[hf1khal]

keep it for a couple of days as you have a certain number of days to return the old one. See what happens and then make the decision.

[johnfromphilly]

Originally Posted by hf1khal

keep it for a couple of days as you have a certain number of days to return the old one. See what happens and then make the decision.

I think I will.
They need it back in 10 days or they charge me full price.

[ganesha71]

Just to add my info, I'm an Admin of 125 blackberries based mostly out of Bala Cynwyd, PA, a few of my users did report no data service over the weekend and there was most definitely a tower outage 2 weeks or so ago which was confirmed by Cingular.

[Zero_sys]

I recently received my 8700c and promptly got it unlocked. This BB is the best I have used and refuse to use anything else. Although it works flawlessly everywhere I go, I do seem to have the same issue of dropping into GSM at home. My other BB's using the same sim card will pick up a GPRS signal (full signal). t-mobile and RIM both seem to bewildered by this. I have tried the hard reset to flashing the BB software. Anyone else having same issues with 8700c on tmobile?

Thanks to all for your posts. I was beginning to think it was just me.

[barjohn]

On your regular cell phone does it actually differentiate the way the BlackBerry does and show lower case gprs and then switch to upper case GPRS on a good data connection? The reason I ask is that most cell phones do not perform a GPRS data connection until you perform a data function like web browsing or email activity. They usually only show GSM. Take the various MS smartphones or Wondows Mobile phones and they do not start out connected to the GPRS data. You initiate a GPRS connection and you can drop the connection. The phone may be misleading you and there may be a problem in the tower near your home. You should check with T-Mobile CS and find out. If you are getting GPRS or EDGE everywhere else it is highly unlikely that it is the phone and far more probable that the problem is with your local cell tower.

If you become convinced the issue is in the phone, please post it. I am watching this thread and if it appears that there is a real issue with the 8700 I will bring it up to RIM management.

[Zero_sys]

Thanks John

t-mobile through their hands up last night and feel that there is a problem with the sesitivity in th ephone and BB support from RIM sent me an email suggesting I try a new unit. I agreee with you in that I don't believe it is the unit as it works without any issue wether in an EDGE or GPRS covered area other than around my home.

The most bewildering part is that neither my 7100 or 6230 expereince any difficulty with the data network in and around my home as the 8700 does. Thanks for the suggestion on the trying a data connection to prod the device to hand shake with the data network. That hasn't worked either. I'm thinking I might just have to wait until t-mobile officially has the 8700 since there is no way I am giving this BB up.

[johnfromphilly]

As an update for my situation: my 8700 has been all EDGE for the last few days. I am going to send the replacement back as I know mine is problem (and dust) free except for the EDGE issue which now seems to have resolved itself. I do not want to risk opening up a can of worms by switching units unless necessary- which it appears not to be.

Thanks to all for your help. I do not know why it was behaving the way it was for those few days but it is 100% now.

[barjohn]

Originally Posted by Zero_sys

Thanks John

t-mobile through their hands up last night and feel that there is a problem with the sesitivity in th ephone and BB support from RIM sent me an email suggesting I try a new unit. I agreee with you in that I don't believe it is the unit as it works without any issue wether in an EDGE or GPRS covered area other than around my home.

The most bewildering part is that neither my 7100 or 6230 expereince any difficulty with the data network in and around my home as the 8700 does. Thanks for the suggestion on the trying a data connection to prod the device to hand shake with the data network. That hasn't worked either. I'm thinking I might just have to wait until t-mobile officially has the 8700 since there is no way I am giving this BB up.

Ther may be some minor radio issue as it relates to T-Mobile that you are seeing at your home tower. Since T-Mobile is not yet offering the 8700 they may not have addressed it in the current firmware build. You will probably see a different version by the time T-Mobile is offering the device. As long as it works in 99% of the places you use it I would just wait. Don't be surprised if one day it starts working. The carriers are really bad about admiting if they are doing something to a tower in your area as CS could be in India and they don't have a clue who or where you are.

[jstevenson]

Jumping in on this problem... I'm outside of Philadelphia in the western 'burbs. I had a similar issue in mid-December that lasted for nearly two weeks, finally resolving a few days before Christmas (from about the 9th 'til the 23rd). Anyway, what was a bit different about mine was that I had 5 bars of GPRS (all capitals) but could not *receive* any data -- I could place and receive calls and text messages (I know, both GSM), and *send* e-mail and BlackBerry PIN messages, but could not receive either. And only when I was home. If I went a mile or two in any direction from my house, everything was fine.

Talk about a long time to get resolved... I must have spent 8-10 hours on the phone with Cingular's data services technical support trying to get them to understand that it wasn't a problem with my phone (it's a 7100g and I tried the devices from several of my co-workers at home, same problem) and that it *had* to be an issue with the tower. What was especially frustrating, for them, too, I imagine, was that I was getting a full 5 bars of GPRS (-60 to -70-dBm) and could send data, just not receive. I'm not a cellular engineer by any stretch of the imagination, but I do work in the networking field, and the concept of a device that can only receive and not transmit is not unheard of. Anyway, the other piece is that I would periodically receive "bursts" of data, perhaps every 5 or 6 hours, where all of my data that queued up would come through.

They finally dispatched someone to take a look in my area and the first time they did that, they reported back that they were getting a great signal -- no kidding, right? After re-communicating that signal strength was not the issue and having to open another ticket, they sent someone else out and, around the same time, the problem just "went away".

I'd love to get a description of what happened, but thus far the ticket hasn't been updated by them to say if anything was done. Sounds like a quirky piece of equipment; at this point, I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that it doesn't happen again!

[nb_mitch]

My 8700c has had an EDGE connection for 6 weeks without issues. But today I can't get anything more than a GSM connection.

I called this morning to complain about the wireless data charges and they removed the charges and said they fixed it. It was at that point when she asked me to check my phone that I realized I no longer had a EDGE connection. Online I see I still have the BB unlimited on my account, but I wonder if she did something wrong?

I will wait for a couple of hours and see if it comes back when I move around.

ps. I have turned off/on the network & phone and removed the battery with no affect. I was receiving emails earlier today, but I really don't know when it stopped.

[Zero_sys]

Originally Posted by jstevenson

Jumping in on this problem... I'm outside of Philadelphia in the western 'burbs. I had a similar issue in mid-December that lasted for nearly two weeks, finally resolving a few days before Christmas (from about the 9th 'til the 23rd). Anyway, what was a bit different about mine was that I had 5 bars of GPRS (all capitals) but could not *receive* any data -- I could place and receive calls and text messages (I know, both GSM), and *send* e-mail and BlackBerry PIN messages, but could not receive either. And only when I was home. If I went a mile or two in any direction from my house, everything was fine.

Talk about a long time to get resolved... I must have spent 8-10 hours on the phone with Cingular's data services technical support trying to get them to understand that it wasn't a problem with my phone (it's a 7100g and I tried the devices from several of my co-workers at home, same problem) and that it *had* to be an issue with the tower. What was especially frustrating, for them, too, I imagine, was that I was getting a full 5 bars of GPRS (-60 to -70-dBm) and could send data, just not receive. I'm not a cellular engineer by any stretch of the imagination, but I do work in the networking field, and the concept of a device that can only receive and not transmit is not unheard of. Anyway, the other piece is that I would periodically receive "bursts" of data, perhaps every 5 or 6 hours, where all of my data that queued up would come through.

They finally dispatched someone to take a look in my area and the first time they did that, they reported back that they were getting a great signal -- no kidding, right? After re-communicating that signal strength was not the issue and having to open another ticket, they sent someone else out and, around the same time, the problem just "went away".

I'd love to get a description of what happened, but thus far the ticket hasn't been updated by them to say if anything was done. Sounds like a quirky piece of equipment; at this point, I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that it doesn't happen again!

Well...I guess that settles it. I am not crazy as T-mobile woul dlike me to think an dit certainly is not my device. Over the past few days my 8700 occasionaly makes the handshake for a data connection and I get all the messages I hadn't received up to that point. Talk about strange, this data connection typically last for about a minute and then disapears.

I hope this is a sign that things are getting better. Maybe they are simply doing some network upgrades on the towers that serve my house. Thanks for the post.

[kd78]

I have to pull my battery at least 5 times a day to get my EDGE connection. Unless Cingular is working on the majority of towers in San Francisco (all day long) I can't imagine this being a tower problem. It seems like a firmware issue to me:

1) When I am stuck in GSM mode, I can pull the battery in the same location and it goes back to EDGE immediately. This is ALWAYS the case for me. It would have to be a huge coincidence that the tower goes back up every time I reboot.

2) I find this issue of getting stuck in GSM mode occurs many times when I go into areas with low signal. But again, if I pull battery (even in the low signal area) it comes back with EDGE.

3) Why wouldn't GPRS be used at the least? Is GPRS being phased out by cingular for their blackberries? In all of the areas that I lose EDGE service I still have GPRS on my 7100. Just a question.