[xmarkxcorex]

both show up on my phone from time to time, what the difference between the uppercase and lowercase versions?

[dacphilly]

Upper case means you have full network coverage. Lower case means you probably can only make calls and sms, email and web browsing may not. Below taken from another forum:

"The "ev" portion of it has to do with whether or not you're on EVDO speeds. The difference between "EV" and "ev" is whether or not the Blackberry is connected to the Blackberry Data network. No connection to the data network means that you won't get email or browsing on the BB. So, if you're 1xev, you're on the network and at EVDO speeds, but the BB cannot connect to the carrier's Blackberry data provisioning network, so anything that requires a data connection won't work."

[metro12]

Thanks for that info, I was wondering the same thing for some time. That really helped.

[Sith_Apprentice]

its the same as EDGE to edge. with EDGE you have a connection with RIM's servers (same with 1XEV), with edge or 1xev you lost your connection to RIM. All voice/data that isnt routed through RIM will work fine, everything that is will not until you get 1XEV back

[jtdarden]

The letters are carrier specific, and have nothing to do with the RIM NOC. Typically (except in the case of Nextel where there are Direct Connect indications) the letters are specific to the carrier's data network, voice network, and other indicators. For Sprint, this equates to the following:

1 = voice channel registration
X = 1x data speed registration
EV = EVDO (high speed) data registration

Lower case letters means you are not connected, upper case means you are connected.