[barjohn]

Becasue the tower intermitently stops providing data services as they work to make the change overs (perhaps while they reboot their system after a change is made?)

[johnfromphilly]

Just got off with "data customer service" (very nice and helpful by the way) and they turned my service off and then back on to see if it would help. I will wait and see if it goes to GSM again later.

barjohn- this csr mentioned the tower conversion issue to me but said my area was not showing any issues. He said they are switching the ATT towers to Cingular.

In any event- I will see how it goes. If I hold EDGE then I guess I found the fix- have service turned off and back on @ Cingular level.

I will update if it goes bad again or in a few days if all goes well.

JP

[johnfromphilly]

Just bounced back to GSM.
Edit:
CSR had me remove SIM and reset again.

He said if it happens again he would recommend a new unit- I don't get it- what happened all of the sudden to cause such a problem?

I will keep this thread up to date in case someone else has this issue down the road.

JP

[johnfromphilly]

Update:
Been with ANS (data supposrt) for 4-5 hours, I have now done everything including a hard reset- removed all applications. Next step is a new 8700. I am waiting to see if it can now hold the EDGE signal- if not new device.

[kipster]

I have been having simular problems in the Meadville/Conneaut Lake, PA area. It happens sometimes once a week, but it will lose it's GPRS while I am stationary. If I take out the battery and SIM and power cycle, then everything is fine.

The problem I have with that is my one 3rd party application doesn't save the information that you enter after removing the battery... it's a reminder program, so you have to remember what you've entered into it!!

Can anyone provide any help? Please!

Customer service and Tier II has been no help!

[Oncoryncus]

I noticed that problem a few weeks back with the device failing to upgrade back to EDGE after falling to gsm, as I reported in thread:

http://www.blackberryforums.com/showthread.php?t=21282

"Pull the battery reset" fixed the problem twice for me.

I think there's something wonky in the 8700's radio signal management soft/firmware.

[johnfromphilly]

I have a new 8700C on the way to me. They do not know what is wrong and cannot fix it so they are sending a new one.

Oncoryncus, I read your thread in my original search for a solution and that was one of my first attempts to fix the problem. No go.

I tried everything I could come up with along with hours of tech support and it still drops EDGE and cannot get it back without turning wireless off then on again.

I am bummed because this 8700 had no dust or other reported problems and I am forced to get another one now.

Thanks for all the input on this,
JP

edit: just found out it is going to be a refurbished unit and that stinks! My 8700 was perfect except for this issue and now I have to roll the dice with a refurb.

[rcbjr]

I don't know if a refurb is so bad. It could even be better than a brand new unit. From a reliability standpoint, your first failure has already occurred and has been fixed. This means statistically that it should last longer before it fails again. Also remember, that following the repair it got the same acceptance test that it did before the original shipping, if not a more thourough test. And yes I do know what I'm talking about, I am a RAM-T engineer.

Hope this helps.
Rcbjr

[johnfromphilly]

Originally Posted by rcbjr

I don't know if a refurb is so bad. It could even be better than a brand new unit. From a reliability standpoint, your first failure has already occurred and has been fixed. This means statistically that it should last longer before it fails again. Also remember, that following the repair it got the same acceptance test that it did before the original shipping, if not a more thourough test. And yes I do know what I'm talking about, I am a RAM-T engineer.

Hope this helps.
Rcbjr

It does help- thanks- It just feels like you have already lost that "new car smell" before you even got it. The CSR told me they do this and just send the unit- no battery, no SIM, no accessories and you swap them out. I guess it makes sense but it is like the time I got inot an accident in my week old S-60 it is just not new anymore.

Thanks for the quality points though- time to move on I guess. Waiting till it arrives......

JP

[cwood]

I know that I had a fairly lengthy post before but I wanted to try and give enough information that you could see the related issues. barjohn is correct, the tower will be up and down until they work out the tower issues. Like I said earlier, I went back and forth with Cingular about a tower being down that they said was fine. barjohn is correct again in that tech support knows very little about what is going on in your local area. One reason that your BB connects to the EDGE network and then falls back to GSM is that if they are working on the towers, a tower near you might have EDGE up and running but is not close enough for you to remain connected. Due to the way the cells are divided, you will fall off the EDGE if you are on "the edge", much the way a call is dropped if not properly forwarded to the next cell you enter. And I am sorry johnfromphilly, but I posted a long post before to try and prevent so much of your frustration and runaround with Cingular. I too replaced a few devices when I was having problems and it didn't help; it is a tower problem. I don't think anything is wrong with the 8700 devices; all of this technology is new so remember, we are all "early adopters" and will always be discovering the challenges faced by the user and the provider that will probably be unknown to later users. The networks are in constant change and I am excited to see the direction it is taking. Good luck and hang in there, the network will work itself out and one day you will forget how long it was that you had no service; you will be wondering why your 9999c's hologram is not working.

[barjohn]

The change to UMTS/HSDPA is a good one though we may suffer a bit in the process. I am really looking forward to the higher data speeds for tethering. My guess is it will be awhile before the processor speed in the handhelds will be able to truly support the higher data speeds so that you can see the full benefit in the browser. Anyone that has a 7250 and compares browser performance of the handheld to the performance on a laptop tethered using the same data connection can confirm the difference.

[johnfromphilly]

All of the tower/tech info is great but I am left with a device that does not work no matter the reason. I have no web browsers and no e-mail now- 90% of the time. The only way to get it (and only e-mail-no brwser at all) is to turn wireless off/on and get reception for 10-15 minutes. Not an acceptable situation.

My only option was to get a new device. Thanks for all of the input to the thread it could be very usefull to others who come across this issue in the future.

For me waiting for it to get better by the mysterious "tower Issue" getting fixed is not an option- I must be proactive and see what a new device will do for me.

Thanks again to all,
John

[barjohn]

If you can get reception for 10-15 minutes everyt time you turn it on and off repeatedly then I would think it is a defective unit and not the tower. Replace it and find out and let us know.

[johnfromphilly]

Originally Posted by barjohn

If you can get reception for 10-15 minutes everyt time you turn it on and off repeatedly then I would think it is a defective unit and not the tower. Replace it and find out and let us know.

That is my situation. Every time I turn wireless off/on it goes GSM -edge-EDGE and holds EDGE for 10-15 minutes then goes to GSM and does not come back.

Thanks and Happy Holidays,
John

[phillyslickster]

I have been having the same issues in my area as well this past week. I've noticed that it has been people using any type of BlackBerry at Cingular. Customer Care told me that it was a tower issue, but BB support said that it wasn't. Powering the BB off and removing the battery for a few seconds and then replacing it has helped with the issue. I've been told that it should be back to normal on December 26th. We shall see. I know that I'd have GPRS and then it would just switch over to GSM. Cingular was beginning to make me think that it was me until others in my area using BB and other data devices were complaining as well.

[hf1khal]

I wonder if they are doing the MNC changes in your area. When they did that in Long Island, NY, I experienced no edge connection on my Moto A780 and it took about a week to come back (this was on Blue).

[johnfromphilly]

Originally Posted by phillyslickster

I have been having the same issues in my area as well this past week. I've noticed that it has been people using any type of BlackBerry at Cingular. Customer Care told me that it was a tower issue, but BB support said that it wasn't. Powering the BB off and removing the battery for a few seconds and then replacing it has helped with the issue. I've been told that it should be back to normal on December 26th. We shall see. I know that I'd have GPRS and then it would just switch over to GSM. Cingular was beginning to make me think that it was me until others in my area using BB and other data devices were complaining as well.

Where in the Philly area are you ( I aasume from your name). I am in Lower Bucks County.

John

[dan1431]

I have a sense that it could be more than a simple tower issue. I use the 8700c on T-Mobile and have noticed that from time to time the unit will simply go from EDGE to GSM or sometimes nothing.

I have a sense that the unit needs a firmware update to address its network type management features.

[johnfromphilly]

Well....my new (refurb) 8700 is due to arrive today but...

My current 8700C picked up EDGE this AM and has held it all morning after not having EDGE at all for days (without cycling wireless off/on).
Mabey the local tower was the issue after all. It does not really make sense though since I could get EDGE-just not hold it. Very odd.

I am going to see how it goes today, I will be traveling about 1-1/1/2 hours away and moving around all day so I will see how it holds. Then when I get back to the office I will see if it stays EDGE. I may have to return the refurb when it arrives.

What a pain in the a-- this has been.

But I do love the 8700C(oh-and my new Sirius Radio- thanks Santa for that! ).

John

[johnfromphilly]

This thread may be dead for most people but for the archives of anyone else with the problem I will complete the saga...

I had uninterupted EDGE service all day today which was a first since my issue arose. I also recieved my replacement via fedex today and guess what-they sent a NEW BB 8700C not a refurb like Cingular said they would send. It was complete with box, CD, charger and holster.

So now what do I do? Keep the new one or keep the old one hoping the problem does not resurface. The old one had zero other problems and I am worried that if I keep the new one I might get bit (some other problem) for trying to keep it.

Gonna check out the new one and sleep on it.

JP