I have had my 7100t since they were released. I have it unlocked and use it with AT&T and T-Mobile SIMS. What I have found is that the unit has a serious reliability issue. For some reason (I hope it is a software bug that will be fixed by 4.0) the unit will lose the signal and never reacquire it. The green light will keep flashing and it says it is searching for a network but can never find it (even in a strong signal area) or it will show mulitple bars and a solid connection but not let you dial out or receive calls or messages. Often calls will go straight to voicemail and the phone never rings. I have seen it sometimes take days for an email to get to my phone. Needless to say, this has not inspired my confidence that this unit is going to get me messages, voice or email, reliably when I need them. If the problem pursists in version 4.0 of the software, it is going to the trash heap and I will cancel my service contract, even if it costs me $200. I will switch back to a reliable phone and a separate pager. I have the 7230 and it has been more reliable but there are too many places that I can't get service, including my office. Maybe when Verizon comes out with their new unit things will improve.

I have been testing the Verizon XV 6600 with EVDO and it sure works well except for the Bluetooth stack that is a terrible implimentation. Email and web browsing are fantastically fast with the unit.

I posted some of these reliability problems a while back and a poster with the same problems suggested swtiching the network setting from automatic to manual as a means of fixing the problems. I can now report, after trying this fix for over a month that while it seems to sometimes help, it is not a cure or fix.

Yeah it sounds like theres something wrong with yours; call tech support!

My 7100 has been totally reliable from a hardware standpoint - it's one of the first ones.

Tmo in our area is not very strong signal wise but that is another issue.

I'd say to have your handset replaced with another.

I (and a colleague) have had three 7100Ts and have had the exact same problem with them.

We received the first device in October of 2004, and the most recent device was received in January. We have even tried the most recent build of 4.0, but it was to no avail. The 7100Ts lose coverage constantly in areas where I know coverage is fine. They are always "searching for network" (or something like that).

RIM Support's latest reply is that they are aware of the problem. They say the issue is very isolated and that we are in a geographic area which is affected. They say that in our area there is quite a bit of "garbage" radio transmission, and because the device is quad band it is being overwhelmed by the abundance of radio transmissions from which to choose. They say they are now working on software that would make the device more selective.

This doesn't make much sense to me. I have a 7290, also quad-band (Cingular), and this device works great here. I hope RIM can fix it, but I think the problem is a function two factors; antenna design that is inferior to the design of the antenna in the 72XX devices, and T-Mobile's lame coverage.

...so maybe contact TMO instead of RIM? it doesn't sound like a device issue moreso than a carrier issue. RIM may have a software fix in the future, but i'd take my chances with the carrier instead.

It was TMO that referred us to RIM because TMO was clueless.

I have had the same problem. It seems like, if the 7100t can't find a signal after a certain length of time, it just gives up. After that it will never acquire a signal -- but the whole time it still says "Searching for network," it just never finds it.

I find that I get this in a lot of areas I frequent ... though I was in an IBM research lab not long ago and the thing seemed to go braindead every 15 minutes or so, so "garbage signals" might not be a bad explanation.

In my case, though, turning wireless off and then turning it back on seems to solve the problem a lot of the time. In fact, turning on and off wireless seems to be more effective than actually turning the whole phone on and off.