>
New Topic
>
Reply<
Esato Forum Index
>
Sony Ericsson / Sony >
General
> Reception on recent SE phones
Bookmark topic
I've been through two different GSM phones, a T68i and a T306, both using AT&T in the US. Reception on these phones really sucks. In Europe the situation is a bit different because the lower frequency used for GSM travels farther than the 1900MHz used in the US. The T616 isn't looking a whole lot better in the reception department either. It really seems as if SE is forgoing antenna quality for wizbang features like 16-bit screens and polyphonic ringtones.
When I talk reception I don't mean downtown with a cell tower every 30ft. I'm talking about reception towards the outskirts of town, places where my friend's V66 and my brother's Nokia 1260 both get fine reception. I live in a pretty metropolitation area in southern California and I can't get a cell phone signal in my house for anything.
Are there any relatively recent SE phones with a good reception record on the US GSM system? I've heard quite a bit about the T520 and T39 having excellent reception though lacking some features like a color screen. My primary concern has to do with reception, added bonuses like Bluetooth or color come in a distant second.
--
Posted: 2003-10-17 07:23:16
Edit :
Quote
T39/R520 have excellant acoustics! With IAT-10 antenna the best! Colourscreen is bad in sunshine! There is coming Z600 with good receiption!
This message was posted from a T39
--
Posted: 2003-10-17 15:46:58
Edit :
Quote
if you have AT&T, sometimes you can't blame SE T616 because AT&T just recently moved from TDMA to GSM; therefore, their GSM network coverage is still relatively small.
I have both T616 for AT&T and T610 for T-mobile
(you can tell how much I love this phone right? hahahaha)
and the T610 has better reception compared to T616 because T-mobile basically have a more established GSM network compare to AT&T.
Another thing I found is that even though sometimes I see no reception bar on my T610, it still works really well without drop calls. I think it just how SE make the phone.
--
Posted: 2003-10-17 17:11:22
Edit :
Quote
The T306 I'm using now has horrible reception where other phones have usable reception. It takes me four or five tries to make a phone call from my house. When my brother comes over his 1260 works fine. So does my friend's V66. The T68i I used to have had the same reception problems here so it is definitely these phones. I was thinking about maybe picking up a T610 but as I've read a bit more about the T39 and R520 I'm leaning a bit towards one of them. I'd really like a phone with Bluetooth to use with my Powerbook even if it didn't have a color screen. I just want to be able to make phone calls from my house.
--
Posted: 2003-10-17 21:06:19
Edit :
Quote
have you checked your 'preferred nets' in the gsm menu in the connect menu? sometimes there are better mnc's to use as your primary one. compare your list to your friends list and then duplicate your friends list. i had this problem with having an old SIM card, then I got a new one and changed the preferred nets on my phone (t68i and t28w and t300 AND r520...yes i love s.e. phones
). this solved the problem for me. give it a try and see if it helps you. otherwise, call at&t and get credit for your poor reception and/or dropped calls, that is at&t's policy!
i hope this helps
--
Posted: 2003-10-17 21:14:10
Edit :
Quote
How do I know which nets I'm supposed to be using? All that are listed when I check that are like O2 and stuff. AT&T isn't listed but then I don't know if they should be. I don't know a ton about the nets thing. Could someone explain it to me?
[ This Message was edited by: GiantRobot on 2003-10-17 23:45 ]
--
Posted: 2003-10-18 00:44:52
Edit :
Quote
i've heard loads of complaints about reception on the t610 and that it's worse than the t68i. i'm on UK vodafone in london and i had a t68i and i was imressed with it's reception (i used to have a nokia). now i have a t610, i'm simply amazed.
went to chinese last night, and the restaurant was in the basement (ie underground). all my mates with their 8210s and 7250s whatever number their phones are (all nokia) kept saying "i need to make a phonecall i'm going upstairs". looked at my phone and it was switching between four and five bars!
i think it all depends on the network.
--
Posted: 2003-10-18 11:03:10
Edit :
Quote
No, it's definetly the phones. I've tried out T28w, T39m, T68i, T610 and T616 in my apartment, and the last three couldn;t get a signal where the T28w and T39m worked alright.
Overall, and this is a subjective measurement, the T68/T610s had about 1 - 1.5 bars worse coverage than the T39. Using the SAME SIM card, the SAME network, the SAME spot in my apartment.
While I normally use cingular, I also tried AT&T to see if it improved. Reception was actually a little bit better (half a bar or so), but still not good enough to switch to a T68/T610.
So yes, it is CONCLUSIVELY the phone. Don't let Ericssons supporters confuse you: it doesn't depend on the variables. The reception sucks because Ericsson has concentrated on building flashy, useless phones lately...
If there's ever a bluetooth phone with decent reception in the US, I'll buy it... I have great hopes for the new Nokia, unless it requires a wheelbarrow to cart around like most nokias do...
--
Posted: 2003-10-18 22:26:55
Edit :
Quote
I just got a brand spanking new R520m off eBay. I put my SIM card in and have been pretty satisfied with its performance thus far. After asking about the phones I hunted far and wide for reviews of older phones I'd seen on ebay. Apparently the T39 and R520 are widely touted as having the best reception of late model Ericsson phones.
I was using the R520 last night for a couple hours and it performed far better than the T306 I had been using. My house does have crap coverage from AT&T so I didn't end up with any more signal bars on average but the phone did maintain a steady connection where the T306 would constantly drop out. Signal bars don't matter as long as I can talk on the phone. The R520 has all the same features as the T306 but includes voice dialing and Bluetooth.
I like the SE brand and styling much more than Nokia or Siemens but I'm finding out that their phone quality is really hit or miss. Since the Ericsson-Sony merger it seems as if the quality of their products has taken a nosedive while flashy features have risen stratospherically. I'm hoping the R520 keeps performing better than the T series phones I got suckered into buying. Fancy graphics and polyphonic ringtones are fine as long as the phone works as a damn phone first.
--
Posted: 2003-10-19 01:54:31
Edit :
Quote
There is some truth to your post.
--
Posted: 2003-10-19 07:29:29
Edit :
Quote
New Topic
Reply
