HTC desire connection problems and battery issues - I found the solution

xant14

I too have a desire and the signal is rubbish. I have been on T-Mobile for 18 months with a G1 Android phone and was well happy, decent signal in my house.
I upgraded to the Desire, and I constantly lose the signal.
I have tried your suggestions in post 33, but still no joy.

bubblesmoney

xant14 wrote: »

I too have a desire and the signal is rubbish. I have been on T-Mobile for 18 months with a G1 Android phone and was well happy, decent signal in my house.
I upgraded to the Desire, and I constantly lose the signal.
I have tried your suggestions in post 33, but still no joy.

if you cant get it sorted, then cancel the contract if its the best option for you. tell the network that the phone is faulty as old phone works ok.

what dBm and ASU do you get on your desire?

check out this thread of mine https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2554591 and see if some of these apps help you check if there are any masts nearby. may help you decide whether to return the phone.

xant14

had the contract a month now, so probably left it too late now. The actual contract I am happy with, £16 a month for 300mins, 300 texts, U/L landline calls, U/L internet.
I am tempted to put the sim in my old G1 and sell the Desire.

The asu varies from a max of 21 upstairs, down to 0-6 asu down stairs, where I use it most.
I never tested the G1 yet will try it tomorrow.

bubblesmoney

xant14 wrote: »

had the contract a month now, so probably left it too late now. The actual contract I am happy with, £16 a month for 300mins, 300 texts, U/L landline calls, U/L internet.
I am tempted to put the sim in my old G1 and sell the Desire.

The asu varies from a max of 21 upstairs, down to 0-6 asu down stairs, where I use it most.
I never tested the G1 yet will try it tomorrow.

21 ASU is great. i dont often that good a reading and i still get a connection. infact even when i get 0-2 ASU even if i lose voice connection, sometimes i still get the hsdpa / gprs data connection, i couldnt figure out how that happens unless the sensitivity for data connection is a bit better.

after seeing a few iphone4 videos saying the problem was in the left corner, i started experimenting again. i am not sure but probably the signal gets attenuated a bit more when the htc desire's right bottom side is held (the opposite side of the iphone4).

i am exploring something else and if i figure it out and if it is useful then will post it here.

btw it is never too late to try to cancel contract if the connection isnt great, so long as you badger them strong enough and often enough then it might become worth their while to stop wasting customer service personnel and man hours on you and let you go! but seeing your ASU it looks good. is the asu reading you gave while you hold the phone.have you tried holding the phone with an insulating material like a glove to see if it improves the connection. if it improves then a silicone case etc might improve the situation, if the issue is a grounding problem. there have been some grounding issues on some htc handsets like the htc evo etc from what i can see on internet videos.

for me it is an issue only at one of my workplaces, otherwise works fine so am keeping the phone as i like the phone otherwise. absolutely love the way i can customise it like i want, but hate the memory full alerts. guess this issue will be solved by the froyo update if and when it comes.

other networks except three, seem to be stocking the samsung galaxy s for now, although three have also indicated they are looking to get it. see in a store if there is a signal drop with the samsung galaxy s, if there is no drop then try to get your network to exchange your desire for a samsung galaxy s if possible to resolve the situation. if you want to cancel contract due to reception issues you will have to really pursue your network about the issue saying faulty product as your old phone gives a signal but not the desire.

see a comparison of the desire and samsung galaxy s http://www.mobileshop.com/blog/mobile-phone-blogs/htc-desire-vs-samsung-galaxy-s-the-uber-powerful-showdown/

LeBearUK

I am having problems with my HTC Desire, whilst it is laying on my desk for eg, I get a good signal, soon as I pick it up all bars are gone, I'm not getting as good signal as my previous phone either in most places. I'll be going into the store this week to discuss the problem.

joeypesci

bubblesmoney wrote: »

Update from me about improvement in situation after i fiddled with the 'test-settings menu' on the phone.

I have just got back a few hours ago after doing my comparison tests at poor reception postcode and got dramatic results after me fiddling with the settings (test settings and not usual settings on the phone available to usual customers who dont know how to access the test settings on the phone).

please note that the three network level 1 and level 2 tech teams had given up on any improvement in signal in my situation and had agreed option to cancel contract. i had a call last monday from the CEOs office too after my repeated badgering them on the tech team number and three blog and by emails etc and even the CEOs office people said they would be happy to cancel contract at any time convenient to me as they cant improve signal. but now me fiddling with the test-settings has given me a 2-3 bar signal without any tech team input. will give my feedback to the tech teams on monday and to their blog and CEOs office too of my improvement in signal with me fiddling with the phones test settings after their tech teams had given up the ghost on improving the signal for me. so this IS A SOFTWARE SETTING ISSUE APART FROM POOR SIGNAL AND ANTENNA SIGNAL ATTENUATION.

i have not rooted the phone, so have not voided any warranty, so this will be an option to explore for all with poor signals (if their issue was similar to mine).

am cut pasting instructions (1-6) i got from some XDA developer threads but have suitably modified the instructions, which worked fine for me. they were trying for better battery life, but i used the same settings for better PRL (preffered roaming list) selections and consequently better signal and probably better battery life as my mobile wont be bonking the airwaves continuously for a signal now in low signal areas and wasting battery life in the process and avoiding needless frustration because of poor signals in poor signal areas as i get quicker shift to preferred roaming list provider and better signal strength.

If anyone else on any network on any android phone that allows access to this setting whether network locked phone or not, wants to get better signals or shall i put it more accurately as better shifting to preffered roaming list provider in poor signal areas then try what i did. if it doesnt work for you then undo what you did and you are back to square one without any permanent change to the phone as far as i understand (many networks have deals with other networks for back up roaming when their networks are overloaded or in poor signal areas etc or mast sharing etc). THIS DOES NOT NEED ROOTING THE PHONE. rooting voids the phone warranty, so i wasnt interested in rooting. But i can get better battery life and signals and better shifting to preferred roaming list provider in poor signal areas and consequently less wastage of battery as the phone isnt wasting more power trying to latch onto a poor / non existant signal.

1. Go to the phone dialer and dial *#*#4636#*#* (DO NOT press send or call button) just wait a second and you will get the 'test' menu.
2. In the test menu choose 'Phone Information'
3. scroll down and choose on the first drop down - GSM auto (PRL) (for high speed data) or GSM only (You may get 3g if not use GSM auto (PRL). I have chosen GSM (PRL) setting and it works fine on my HTC desire.
4. Back out to test menu then back into 'Phone information' to see if it sticks (if not try again) then back all the way out. Mine stuck with my chosen "GSM (PRL)" setting on the first attempt itself.
5. You might want to reboot (power on and off for those who arent familiar with reboot terminology), but I found the settings worked straight away and I didnt need to reboot.
6. I don't take any responsibility for step 6 - 6) Try other settings on the dropdown if you are brave as I don't know the consequencies of using settings like "EvDo only" and "unknown" as they may be better depending on the way your provider provides information. I have not tried any other setting changes. (..... yet!:p)

Other settings you can change: in the 'test settings' (described above) after selecting phone settings, then if you press the menu button on your phone in the 'phone information' page and select 'radio band', you may be able to change it to Automatic or one of the other settings and then you might get GSM auto (PRL).





Available Radio Bands

• Automatic. I chose this setting.
• EURO Band
• USA Band
• JAPAN Band
• AUS Band
• AUS2 Band

There are other settings there that I haven't messed with, maybe someone with more knowledge may be able to help

i get HSDPA even when i have set it to GSM (PRL) setting. Do not listen to any mobile techy or android techy who says you wont get HSDPA while on GSM (PRL) setting. Many others who have tried this setting have got HSDPA and i similarly get HSDPA while on this setting with no decrease in data speeds as far as i can tell. The proof that this works is in eating the pudding like me and telling by experience fiddling with this setting and seeing it work. Also this GSM (PRL) setting should improve your time without signal (TWS) times as well.

i have two HTC desires. one is still in factory setting as delivered to me by three network. i havent done anything with that other than put a few htc power control widgets on and a few apps. the other htc desire i have fiddled with as above and also with power control widgets and 'task panel' app from the market for killing any tasks that i dont need (which i use rarely). i didnt install advanced task killer etc as they have issues with adverse :eek: battery life from many reports online. initially when i got the phone i would have to charge twice a day minimum and sometimes up to three times a day. but installing the htc power control widgets and using them appropriately and now task panel has drmatically improved battery times for my htc desire and the last battery charge lasted me 31 hours to discharge it to 3% battery level including my normal use for the day. this battery life is with medium screen brightness most of the time and full brightness when out and about when using the phone, with synch on all the time, wifi on all the time at home, gps on while travelling if needed and sometimes when i play around with google maps or RAC traffic or any location based app like google local search etc, plus surfing / talking / receiving text / getting my voicemail, with live nexus 1 wallpapers, memory full to the brim with apps etc etc.

today since last charge it been above 7.5 hours with 1 hour of full use of the phone for calls, and other purposes with screen in full brightness with about an hour in poor signal area (where earlier i couldnt get a signal at most times). it still has 83% charge left after 7.5hours after last charge.

getting back to the poor signal issue and me fiddling the settings.....
I took both the phone i had fiddled with and the other factory settings phone (both htc desires) to the poor signal area. i have cross checked the signal issue on both phones during the last month and a half i have had both the phones, both of them show almost the same signal strength values at most times with very minor fluctuations between them at all times. i mention this so i know the signal strength is accurate both in terms of dBm and ASU values. i have described how to get the dBm and ASU values above in my first post in this thread. when i reached the poor signal area both the phones dropped signal strength almost mirroring each other, outside the building both had dbm values in above -100dbm with low ASU values fluctuating around 4-8 at best.

BUT .... when i moved inside the building to an area where i normally dont get a signal at all (where i had checked the signal many times before as well on my old phone and the desire before i fiddled the test settings). both the htc desire phones lost the signal completly but almost instantly the htc desire i had fiddled the test settings with instantly got a connection and rapidly signal strength improved to two to three bars with ASU 8-10 :eek::T think it was GPRS, it was a roaming signal of PRS provider. both HTC desire phones were side by side in each hand. but the second desire which was still on the original factory setting as delivered to me by three network didnt have any signal at all at that spot where i usually have reception problem, it never switched to the PRL provider at all and it got back the signal only when i left the building.

so in my opinion the stock setting on the htc desire phone (and most probably most other phones especially the htc phones and any other three network phones i guess, maybe other networks too but just a guess) struggles to move away from main network and keeps trying to latch on to poor signal from main provider instead of switching to PRL provider when signal is lost. fiddling these test settings solved the problem for me as i can make and receive calls as had 2-3 bars (GPRS) but what the heck if it was GPRS earlier the phone was unusable in those locations as never got any signal.

very happy with the fiddled settings as can make and get calls even in poor signal area as the phone switches almost instantly to PRL provider (preffered roaming provider dont know the name as the phone doesnt disclose the name of the roaming provider, i checked briefly). i have previously checked with three network quite a few times and have been informed that i wont be billed for roaming in the UK. and i have noticed that have been on roaming many times since i have had the phone for a month and a half and in my recent bill i never got billed for roaming. so problem solved.

as a bonus because my phone is not continuously struggling to latch onto a poor signal, it wastes less power and i get better battery times. my last charge lasted me 31hours. but i changed the test settings only a few hours before the battery ran out, now battery times should get better as getting better signal on phone in poor signal area. when i come back into good signal area the phone automatically switches back to three network and i get hsdpa connection as well on the GSM (PRL) setting.

hope this helps many people who have similar issues.

i repeat mine is a stock htc desire phone, i have not rooted the phone, so havent voided the warranty. i havent fiddled the radio frequency settings etc (... yet , not sure if i will do that though). but most of my problem seems to have been sorted without needing to root the phone or change radio frequency or instal new roms etc. what ever i have done will be possible for every user with poor signal issues (if their issues are due to poor activation of the PRL mode in factory setting of the phone). i am no techie but persistence and a lot of internet reading on this issue and luck coming across some interesting interenet posts helped me along the way. hope this helps others too with similar poor signal and battery life issues (if due to poor network signal draining battery).

thanks to butterbeanmash mentioning the xda thread on this issue and from that thread i got links to other threads where others had plodded along this path before and this helped me find a solution to this problem affecting me. thanks to all those souls at xda dev forum who plodded along this path and documented their findings which guided me along this path.

now only if the HTC desire can have a secret menu for giving me next weeks winning lotto numbers, that would be super cool too! :rotfl:.

apologies for boring people with a long post but i do hope this information helps atleast a few people with similar issues. please remember i am no techie and tread with care if you are fiddling with various settings in the test settings. dont blame me if you brick your phone. as with everything else in life, act in haste and repent at leisure if you goof up and brick the phone. but my fiddling the 'test settings has definitely worked for me with better signal (via PRL provider) in poor signal / non existant signal areas, any extra battery life will be a bonus!

ps: i will change the 'test menu' settings tomorrow for the other htc desire phone i have as well, so that phone gets better signals and switching to PRL when needed as well and probably better battery life as a consequence as well.

pps: oh to get better battery life, i also discharged the phone till less than 3% charge and then switched off and rebooted the phone and then charged it to full (to hopefully reset the software sensing the battery strength), read this worked for others so no reason why this shouldnt work for me as well. Anyway i am getting 31 hours for last charge and hopefully better times now. when i got the phone as i said earlier i used to have to charge two to three times a day! so it is a massive improvement in the last month.

Unfortunately this fix has had no affect for me. Still crap signal on the HTC Desire. Attempting to get Play.com to take it back under the DSR.

viveks

When our team moved to a different part of the building in our office, I lost what little signal I used to get on my T-Mobile cell phone.

I procrastinated for months (as all the people who needed to reach me, had my desk number, and outside office I would have signal) and took no action. Finally I decided to move to a different network.

After talking to my colleagues I found out that O2's signal was pretty strong. I decided to upgrade my mobile to a HTC Desire(bought SIM Free, unbranded) and also moved my number to giffgaff. I moved my wife's number to giffgaff (U/L text, U/L data, 300 min, £15) as well.

I was so disappointed to see status quo, no signal on my Desire, on giffgaff . Initially I suspected that it must be something to do with my location within the office. I asked my colleagues on O2 to sit in my chair and check signals on their mobile, and they would have all bars lit up.

To compound the matters, I would have no signal on my phone, when I took my daughter to her dance classes outside the city on Saturday mornings. At the same time, my wife would have full signal on her Blackberry.

I started researching this problem on the net. I was really excited when I saw bubblesmoney's post, late on Sunday night (5th September). I was filled with hope. I tried it in office on Monday, and

VOILA!!!!!!!!!!!

I got full signal :T

THANKS A MILLION BUBBLESMONEY.

I am not very sure at this stage, but, I may be seeing an improvement in my battery life as well.

I have just one minor niggling worry now. When I did get signal earlier, I would be able to download data over 3G, now it's only G.
Can that be explained bubblesmoney.

But regardless, I have to say you have been a saviour, and this forum, and the site deserve high praise.

joeypesci

I gave up and sent the phone back to Play.com for a full refund. Shame, as I liked the phone but don't really miss it. Would of be perfect if it also had a physical keyboard. I need a physical keyboard.

bubblesmoney

viveks wrote: »

When our team moved to a different part of the building in our office, I lost what little signal I used to get on my T-Mobile cell phone.

I procrastinated for months (as all the people who needed to reach me, had my desk number, and outside office I would have signal) and took no action. Finally I decided to move to a different network.

After talking to my colleagues I found out that O2's signal was pretty strong. I decided to upgrade my mobile to a HTC Desire(bought SIM Free, unbranded) and also moved my number to giffgaff. I moved my wife's number to giffgaff (U/L text, U/L data, 300 min, £15) as well.

I was so disappointed to see status quo, no signal on my Desire, on giffgaff . Initially I suspected that it must be something to do with my location within the office. I asked my colleagues on O2 to sit in my chair and check signals on their mobile, and they would have all bars lit up.

To compound the matters, I would have no signal on my phone, when I took my daughter to her dance classes outside the city on Saturday mornings. At the same time, my wife would have full signal on her Blackberry.

I started researching this problem on the net. I was really excited when I saw bubblesmoney's post, late on Sunday night (5th September). I was filled with hope. I tried it in office on Monday, and

VOILA!!!!!!!!!!!

I got full signal :T

THANKS A MILLION BUBBLESMONEY.

I am not very sure at this stage, but, I may be seeing an improvement in my battery life as well.

I have just one minor niggling worry now. When I did get signal earlier, I would be able to download data over 3G, now it's only G.
Can that be explained bubblesmoney.

But regardless, I have to say you have been a saviour, and this forum, and the site deserve high praise.

thanks for the feedback that the method is working for you. if you have used the 'GSM(PRL)' setting i am using then you will get a HSDPA connection too provided your network provides a HSDPA signal at your location. I have no problems getting a HSDPA signal when on the 'GSM(PRL)' setting. The PRL setting switching depends on your networks PRL providers, if in that location you dont get a signal on your parent network then that setting allows the phone to switch to PRL signal, but if there is no signal even for the PRL provider then you wont get a signal. networks fiddle with phones or settings so that their costs for PRL and roaming are down and many like three do their damndest to prevent auto switch to roaming provider lists. i find a faster switch when using GSM(PRL) setting than on factory settings.

how ever if i still dont get a signal then i do try the manual switch to GSM only in the network settings menu instead of the factory setting of CDMA/GSM auto. then on many occassions i do get a GSM signal but data connection will be GPRS but atleast i get calls and texts if there is a GSM signal. this setting is on the standard network settings on the phone and you dont need to go into the test menu. i prefer the first method of test settings as i automatically get a hsdpa data connection along with faster PRL connection switch. if that fails then i try the manula switch to GSM only in the regular network settings menu but by this method i will never get the hsdpa or 3g signal.

sometimes if voice quality is poor on 3g then i do manual switch to GSM only and get better voice quality but data will be slower.

yes battery life is definitely better for me, especially after i did the battery caliberation a few times, i have got more than 2 days on the phone, but that depends on how i use the phone. video streaming uses a lot of juice over 3g and can drain battery fast in a few hours. under my normal use i dont have problems lasting a working day even in a bad signal area (which uses more power) earlier in same area i might have been out of power in 3/4th of a working day. i charged my phone yesterday evening / night more than 12h ago and i have around 90% of the power left i think, but havent used the phone as was sleeping or surfing on the laptop and occassionally checking for any mail on phone as it is always logged in and dont need to log in like on my computer. see prev posts on battery optimisation with links to other articles on the android tips thread by me.

ps: this option might not work for everyone. Please mention signal strength in dBm and ASU units as i have described, it is pointless saying 2-3-4 signal bars etc as that is not standardised anywhere in the world and doesnt really say much about the signal and best to use the raw signal strength numbers (which is shown in menu>settings>about phone>network) and makes it harder to use for comparisons. so please quote signal strength in dBm and ASU. if these methods dont wprk then best to return phone before 7 days.

O2 has a very poor 3g network, see my 3G uk network coverage maps thread. so many phones on their network will actually be using a 2g signal and slower data connection (see my post on the connection speed and ping times thread for more details). also other phone settings may be different. old style phones may just be GSM only in their factory settings. 3g signal and 2g signal maps will vary, so for accurate comparisons one needs to know whether all phones were on 2g or 3g signal.

N20Y1D

Not really connected to this thread but thought i'd try here before starting a new thread.

I'm having an issue with facebook via the broswer, be it the stock or dolphin.

A lot of the time when i view the full version of facebook it opens at "top news" however when i select "most recent" it just reloads the top news feed, and if i select refresh it attempts to display most recent posts but the where they should be displayed is just blank?

Any one got any ideas? I've tried clearing caches, cookies etc but problem still arises eventually?