Hi guys, newbie to the forum here. I have a BB 7290 on Cingular that I got off Craigslist. Thanks to you guys, I learned how to wipe off the IT policy. However, I keep dropping calls, and this isn't "supposed" to happen with Cingular. Before, I'd never drop calls, but once I popped my SIM into the BB, I drop about 1/3rd of my calls over 3 minutes. It's not just that, my service goes down to no bars (or 256 after alt+NMLL), and I remain with no service for a few minutes. Any ideas?? Could it be a defective unit??

I've seen quite a few of the 'older' 7290's develop this issue. You may want to dismantle the device and clean all of the contacts thoroughly. It helps in most cases...

Sounds like a hardware issue to me, especially if you were getting good connections with another Cingular phone.

If either of those previous suggestions still doesn't resolve the issue, contact your carrier's BB Help Desk Line or Customer Care (Voice) and see if there needs to be a network ticket created.

By the way, what sim card are you using? Does your BB allow for use of other regular cell phone sim cards to be put into the device for use? It's not usually recommended but that may also be an issue too.

Also there's a possibility (if still not resolved by now) to try reloading the HHSW for the device to see if that would help. It wouldn't hurt to consider trying this as a last resort if all other options don't lead to a solution.

Hope this helps.

BB Tech Rep

thanks all, I have to find a hexagonal screw driver to open the BB to clean it a bit first...

techrep, it's the same Cingular sim card...ironically, I got a new one today, since I had to migrate my # to the LA area

I'll try all the suggestions soon and report back

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Maybe it's because your 7290 is a Red Sox fan?