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Is anyone having reception problems?

Is anyone having reception problems with their new Droid 2?

Just got my wife the Droid 2 awesome phone by the way, ONE BIG problem the reception is very sporadic

The phone can be sitting in the same place and the bars will go up and down I can send her a text or call and the phone will not ring or notify that there is a text until later in the day. I called tech support and they said that I should remove the battery and put it back in to reboot the system. Sorry this sounds like a stall tactic and I'm not sure what to do.

Any suggestions?

Comments

stsjfsd

I've noticed it at home. Not a lot of difference, but it's less than the clamshell model I had before. Bigger device does not always mean better reception just provides more opportunity for interference to occur. Although the iPhone is getting press about it, it happens to all of these devices IMO. You can see if things are better by reducing the number of internal services running, running without WiFi stuff like that. You never know, maybe a firmware update will come out to address the overall issue.

ksbuchanan

Yes - I have seen the same problem. My BB 8830 had better reception.

In my house, the BB had excellent reception, but the D2 is very spotty. I just think the BB must have had a better antenna design.

clint1234 wrote:
Is anyone having reception problems with their new Droid 2?
Just got my wife the Droid 2 awesome phone by the way, ONE BIG problem the reception is very sporadic
The phone can be sitting in the same place and the bars will go up and down I can send her a text or call and the phone will not ring or notify that there is a text until later in the day. I called tech support and they said that I should remove the battery and put it back in to reboot the system. Sorry this sounds like a stall tactic and I'm not sure what to do.

Any suggestions?

firstlady09

I would recommend to do a battery pull and reboot the system as well as doing a PRL update on the phone. Here are the steps to doing the PRL update.

1. Power on the phone within the Verizon Wireless coverage area.

2. Dial *228 then press SEND (this call is airtime free and may take up to 2 minutes).

3. When prompted, press 2 for the option to update the PRL

4. Once completed, a confirmation message will appear to informing that the phone has been re-programmed with the new PRL.

5. Press End to terminate the call.

6. Power cycle the phone to complete the update

Dial *228 then press SEND (this call is airtime free and may take up to 2 minutes).

Hope this helps!

Casonia

armand

I have the Droid 2 since Thursday and while it’s very nice with what it can do as a portable computer, I did notice the fluctuating signal. It wouldn’t bother me that much for data as it usually goes back, but I really hate the voice quality. The volumes feels like is up and down and the other person’s voice is garbled enough to be annoying. And a background noise. I even dropped a few calls so far.

I already talked with Verizon and did a reset, reprogrammed, etc but it's the same. I bought 2 Droid 2 with a family plan and they behave similarly.

I really like the phone but this seems to be widespread (google it) and if I don't see any acknowledgment of the problem and a plan to fix it I will have to return it. And probably go with the infamous iPhone as it was the competition when I switched.

pool_shark

I get a terrible reception inside. I get a lot of dropped calls, missed text messages, sometimes the calls go right to voicemail when it doesn't even ring on my end.

This is starting to really upset me, I've had it for just over a week and I'm getting ready to throw it up against the wall.

phathands

Definitely having spotty reception as well. Had the LG Voyager, an old LG flip phone, and just had the casio rock, and ALL off them had constant full bars at my house. Now with this guy it seems to have anywhere from one to three bars, all while sitting in one place on the counter (hence no grip issue).

Maybe it's the sun's activity, or maybe an update of some sort is needed (hopefully not a hardware update).

Girlfriend got the HTC Incredible, and if I didn't NEED a physical keyboard I would trade to that. It's had no problems.

cashchris2005

Im having the same problem as well..... I upgraded from the droid 1 thinking that it would have better reception issues, but its weird cuz it seems to be worse..... I love the phone, but come on motorola give me a fix for this problem or im going back to my original droid 1.

razingkane

Yup....I have bad reception too. I just got my Droid 2 on Thrusday. People are always telling me now they can't here me or I sound real bad. This is not what I expected from this phone. I'll do the battery remove and update process list above. It had better work!

shankarg

Hi,

Have been having the same issue with rapidly fluctuating signal strength with Droid 2 . Have had this phone for a week . Hope Verizon and Motorolla acknowledge this problem, else I might have to change my phone soon . Thank god I am within Verizons 30 day trial period.

razingkane

I did this PRL update. My Droid 2 is still have the reception problems. I didn't have this problem with my Dare. I guess I'm just gonna have to deal with it.

firstlady09 wrote:
I would recommend to do a battery pull and reboot the system as well as doing a PRL update on the phone. Here are the steps to doing the PRL update.

1. Power on the phone within the Verizon Wireless coverage area.

2. Dial *228 then press SEND (this call is airtime free and may take up to 2 minutes).

3. When prompted, press 2 for the option to update the PRL

4. Once completed, a confirmation message will appear to informing that the phone has been re-programmed with the new PRL.

5. Press End to terminate the call.

6. Power cycle the phone to complete the update

Dial *228 then press SEND (this call is airtime free and may take up to 2 minutes).
Hope this helps!

Casonia

I did the PRL update and I'm still having reception problems. I didn't have this problem with my Dare. I guess I'll just have to deal with it.

sdpk

I'm experiencing inconsistency in signal strength, in both directions. For bad experiences, I've seen fluctuations in strength while the phone is sitting untouched on a table. Also, yesterday I was in the browser with everything working successfully, switched to Messaging and in the list of e-mail got a message that there was something wrong with my data connection, but other apps that were using the connection (browser and some others) had no problem. I was sitting at the time in a location I have always experienced god signal strength on many different phones.

OTOH - yesterday I was in a rural location near a lake that I go to 10 or so times a year. This phone was the first VzW phone I've carried there that allowed me to have a uninterrupted voice call at lakeside, and to reliably receive and send text messages - so it was a first in a good way.

Bottom line is there is something in my observation that causes the signal to fluctuate for reasons I don;t understand, but I have seen this phone out-perform others in getting signal in a place I often don't.

armand

UPDATE

I went and changed both phones 2 days ago and so far the voice problem seems to be solved. Voice quality is not the greatest but it's reasonable.

3G signal seems to be fluctuating less. Battery is good as it was before.

ThundarPanda

ugh, I am having these issues as well. Reception fluctuating over and over when I'm in the same spot. It is not Verizon coverage, since other users have no problem in this area.

Can someone confirm if this will be fixed in a software update? Or do I need to send in my Droid 2 for a new one?

Droiddudeaz

I'm not noticing a big difference in reception. With my Droid 1, I had 4-5 bars consistently at home and with the Droid 2 I have a steady 4 bars. I've not seen 5 since I got the new Droid 2. At work, reception has always been bad. People with iphones in our store have no bars and are always on edge, never 3G. My D2 has 1-2 bars here at work, which is about the same as my old D1 and better than the ETC Touch Pro 2 before that. I haven't lost service or my 3G connection in the 10 days I've had this phone....So no big reception issues for me.

honeybee

I got my phone 4 days ago and I'm having reception problems as well.

The reception goes all over the place and I'm not even holding the phone. My husband got the droid x and I've put both phones next to one another to compare the reception.

The droid 2 went from 3 bars to zero bars, then 1x, then one while the droid x had 3 bars all the time. At work, where my previous phone never had problems, I only have 2 bars maximum.... but only one bar most of the time and sometimes just 1x.

I also did the recommended PRL update... no difference.

I'm insecure now if I should return the phone within the 30 days or if I should wait for a software update. :smileyindifferent:

pool_shark

I called today to complain about the reception problems. The rep I talked to said Verizon is aware of the reception problems, but they aren't sure if it's the phone or the network.

He said there are other people in my area complaining of reception problems that don't have the Droid 2. He also mentioned something about areas that were mostly Alltel that are having problems. He did something on his end that is suppose to block some kind of signal having to do with Alltel and had me run the PRL update again, he said it could take up to 2 days for me to notice a difference if that was the problem.

I was also told to log each dropped call by dialing ### send.

tbhmech

Hello and good morning all,, I got my new Droid 2 Monday and came Monday nite to program and check it out , it seems like a bad phone right out of the box ,like everyone else i just let the phone sit and the signal kept changing and the 3 G signal was cutting in and out ,did a factory reset after only having the phone 3 hrs and did the update right out of the box knowing there was one available the phone locked up after doing the factory reset with verizon on the phone with me seemed ok for a while after trying to install a ringtone app locked up again called verizon back very nice lady reccomened taking to a factory Verizon store and get a new phone ,so thats todays project get another new Droid 2 and see what happens ,,in case anyone cares type into your search bar known issues wirh Droid 2 and see the list of problems they are aware of ,,im thinking i might just send the phone back and get the X after checking for known problems with the X might be a better choice i have the original droid and never had the problem and i ordered the X for my girlfriend and thats not due to be shipped til 10/10 ,,so anyway i will let you all know later how a another new Droid 2 works ,,,wish me luck ...Tim

s005jjf

I also did the full update and restart and still have fluctuating signal strength. I have the network extender in my house and I still only show 1-3 bars of coverage, when my old blackberry would show full bars. I haven't had any issues with dropped calls yet, but I also haven't made very many calls. Definitely an issue and not sure whether I should return it for the Droid X while I am still in my 30 day period.

9sparkfuls

Yes, mine is going back. I have a droid 2 for almost two weeks. I constantly watch it loose 3G. and go to 1X and then have no data connection. Two of my cowokers have droid X's and they both have five bars when I have one. It seems to have gortten worse in the last week. The biggest issue is the hotspot usually cannot connect. When it connects it drops after five minutes. I want to love this phone, but is not working well. I was using a t-mboile my-touch 3g and it was slower, but the signal was stable and it worked well as modem using {edit for TOS violation}

btrue

This is interesting, I have been having problems with the phone not ringing when called. I have talked to "Tech" about the problem and have replaced my phone 3 times. The problem has not gone away. I have removed the battery and rebooted the phone, but this did not fix the problem. As I stated I am on my third phone and still have the problem. I have a open ticket for them to check the network to see if this is the problem. I feel the problem is not the network but the phone (hardware or firmware).

I am not sure that the "Techs" know what they are doing. I was passed on to a Level2 Tech, who could not tell me how to remove the battery. I feel they are reading a scrip and have no idea about the hardware.

After reading this blog, I feel that the "techs' should also read this. This would a stated that there is a problem with either the phone or network or both. I have four days left before I have to replace the phone with a different model, We have been with out a phone to close to 30 days. I feel that Verizonwireless is selling a bad product at worst or an untested product at best. They should know that people are have problems with the product. I am in NH and assume that the people in this blog are in other part of the country.

I will be going to the store on Sunday and change to another phone. We liked the phone, but Verizonwireless should look into this problem and stop selling this phone until it is fixed.

They should also train their "techs" better, they should know the products, and have them look at the blogs for information receive by the users.

I wish I started look here first and would have save me a lot of time and given me a new phone 3 weeks ago.

Cobjones

@btrue

Have you checked you ringer volume, and see if it is set to silent or vibrate mode?

I know that is a dumb question, but I have seen this happen.

Menu button>
Settings>
Sound>
Uncheck silent mode>
Back>
Volume>
Slide ringer to the right.

btrue

It is a turkey shoot, the phone will ring and a few minute later it will not ring. I am on my third phone and they all act the same way. Ring/no ring????? Yesterday I called the phone 20 times and the phone rang 5 times. 25% response is not very good. Also, the phone did not move, it sat on the table through the whole time.

btrue

Yesterday I went to the Verizon store and after some time talking with the Manager and she talking to the Tech they agree to let me replace the phone with a different type. We like the Droid2 phone, but with the third phone doing the same thing (not ringing when called all the time). They have a problem with either the network or phone or both. They did not want to wave the $35 restock fee, but I feel that since the phone was not working correctly I should not have to paid. By the way, the phone failed to ring in the store when called, the sale person tried it and saw the problem we were having. The next time he called the phone it worked. They final agree to wave and we went with a Blackberry, which is not as nice as the Droid, but it works better, it rings every time some one calls it.

It is too bad that Verizon/Motorola do not admit there is a problem. The Techs I have talked to on the phone are doing the same thing every time I called. They, also, stated they could not trust this blog because of apps being installed on the phone. They are not looking at the problem and trying to find what is causing it.

I hope Verizon/Motorola can find the problem and fix it so other people do not have to go through this problem.

TomKay

What reception? Previous LG phone worked well at home. D2 gets 1 bar at best, depending on the direction I face. A 90 deg turn and then no bars. Inside, outside, doesn't matter. A nice little PC, but a poor phone.

Customer service was helpful. I learned that for $249.99 I can buy a network extender to bring the signal home, to a location that is supposed to have "wonderful" coverage. It does come with a $99 rebate.

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