So I think there is a problem with my phone but just wanted to check first and see if there were any other ideas.

Recently people have begun complaining that they can't hear me talking - as though I am 10 feet away from the phone. It happens whether or not I initiate the call, it goes to a landline, have full signal, etc. Sometimes if i then smack my hand a bit to the back of the phone it works again. Think it is just a busted unit?

It could be a bad unit. Many people have complained about voice quality on 7100s running OS version 4.0. I had a voice quality problem, and downgraded to 3.8. The problem dissapeared. RIM is rumored to be working on a fix.

Hey, i ran into the same problem -- been banging my phone against the wall for a few days now. I called tmobile and they are sending me a new phone for free -- even though i don't have the insurance!

I have the same problem on a 7100g. Am running 4.0.2. Would do the downgrade to 3.8 but understand that BES isn't supported??

Does anyone definitively know if this is a hardware or a software problem?

BES is supported; some wireless functions of BES 4.0 are not (PIM, etc).

Am I the only one with this handset / voice problem?

it's a hardware issue with the microphone - you think software would fix me banging it to get it to work?