[Thon_D]

Just got a Bold last week and so far am happy with it. New to the world of 3G and I am just curious, is it normal for the 3G to come and go while the phone is sitting still on my desk? I updated the OS to the latest from AT&T today and that doesn't seem to make a difference.

I am on AT&T if that makes a difference. And I turned WiFi off because of how it so quickly drained the battery.

[MidnightDraven]

wi-fi doesnt drain the battery that badly.
you can leve it on 24 hours for 2 days and see very little difference.

what I think is causing the battery drain is it swapping 3G. trying to find a 3G signal, gaining, losing and finding again.
Theorectically no, it shouldn't drop in and out, unless that particular spot is a wonky zone for signal.

[Thon_D]

Thanks, I will try turning the WiFi back on and see what happens. I thought it was searching for a signal and running down the battery.

[e1superman]

Originally Posted by Thon_D

Thanks, I will try turning the WiFi back on and see what happens. I thought it was searching for a signal and running down the battery.

It is call "Rayleigh fading", "fast fading" or just "fading". The RF propagation can cause the signal to get strong and weak periodically based on multipath or in practice "changing" multipath based on the environment. Given a very specific location and a unique set of circumstances this can potentially cause what you are seeing.

Additionally you can also have tower hand off issues where a series of towers are misconfigured to improperly hand off to each other and you can get "ping ponging" and other poor hand off decisions based on (lets just use CDMA for example) very poor neighbor list (list of who you can hand off to -- towers) when you are talking to a specific tower.

Long story short, if you see this I suggest if you happen to be in this place a lot and your battery is being drained then to simply lock the phone to EDGE. It uses less power that 3G and your phone will not keep trying and failing to maintain the 3G connection.

[Bmx045]

Like he said ^, if this happens, lock the phone into EDGE. One of my previous Bold's had this issue, after many call to tech support, I ended up with a warranty replacement- all is well now. Seeing that yours is brand new, it may be a tower issue, or the specific location you're in. Does it happen when you are elsewhere?

[the-economist]

I've seen my carrier's coverage maps and my house is literally on the intersection of the 3G tower and 2G.
If i put the Bold on 3G the traffic indicators go mad, the signal locks and seconds afterwards fades away and the battery drains like there's no tomorrow. I suspect the 3G capable tower tries to get me on 3G and since im on the edge of the coverage area it has some issues locking me on.

If i lock it to 2G i got no issues. If i move less than a quarter mile in any direction i get a solid 3G or 2G signal (depended which direction i move to).

If service maps are available from your carrier maybe you should check them out and see if you're on a spotty area. Internally most carriers keep databases with the area codes covered, distance from the mast, signal quality etc. It's not uncommon to log the signal reports from customers against the DB so to spot issues (natural disasters, tree growth, obstractions, vandalism) and alert maintenance crews.

Give your carrier a buzz. If there are issues with your area they know more about it than you do.

[onyx00]

I'm seeing this same issue, and at first I attributed it to the new AT&T OS, but remembered something else changed recently for me: I installed the new Seidio 3500mAh battery (made by Innocell apparently).

With the phone sitting in the same exact place, I ran some tests on signal strength:

-81 - Seidio (5:36)
-81 - Seidio (5:46)
-97 - Seidio (5:58), down to EDGE
-100 - Seidio (6:08), down to EDGE
-81 - SEidio (6:29), back up to 3G

-70 - Factory (6:32), 3G
-70 - Factory (6:43), 3G
-81 - Factory (6:56), 3G
-70 - Factory (7:29), 3G

So if signal strength is highly dependent on the battery, you may want to try a new battery and see if that helps. Just a thought.

[miamirulz29]

Originally Posted by onyx00

I'm seeing this same issue, and at first I attributed it to the new AT&T OS, but remembered something else changed recently for me: I installed the new Seidio 3500mAh battery (made by Innocell apparently).

With the phone sitting in the same exact place, I ran some tests on signal strength:

-81 - Seidio (5:36)
-81 - Seidio (5:46)
-97 - Seidio (5:58), down to EDGE
-100 - Seidio (6:08), down to EDGE
-81 - SEidio (6:29), back up to 3G

-70 - Factory (6:32), 3G
-70 - Factory (6:43), 3G
-81 - Factory (6:56), 3G
-70 - Factory (7:29), 3G

So if signal strength is highly dependent on the battery, you may want to try a new battery and see if that helps. Just a thought.

According to your tests, different batteries had an effect on signal?

[onyx00]

Correct, see my actual post with all the data / updates. From what I saw it seems clear that the battery has a big impact on signal strength.

This makes perfect sense based on discussions with friends I have talked to who design radio circuits (I'm only a measly computer/avionics engineer, haha). They radio can be very sensitive to power, especially when batteries are involved.

I'm not sure where else to go with this as it seems a simple limitation of the hardware and its design, nothing RIM did wrong per say. And I don't think its anything a software update will resolve.

Needless to say, it may simply mean that you want to make sure your battery is always working properly (within accepted tolerances) to give you the most reliable signal. It may further indicate why it seems some people randomly have good experiences with a software update, and others say it has issues.

[Socialblackberry]

you should prolly try the verizon network-- largest 3g network in the USA, and most reliable

[JSanders]

Originally Posted by Socialblackberry

you should prolly try the verizon network-- largest 3g network in the USA, and most reliable

The Bold won't work on the Verizon network. Please, please quit.

[Bmx045]

Originally Posted by Socialblackberry

you should prolly try the verizon network-- largest 3g network in the USA, and most reliable

Who are you? that retard in the commercials? Largest 3G network, Largest group of customer service frustrated customers