I Need Help. My 8000 Doesn't Receive a Signal!!

I have a problem with my phone (our other 8000 however doesn't have this problem ).

Here is the problem:

Up until about a week ago, my phone would show 2 bars inside our house, and 3-4 outside....-92 inside and -83 outside.

Now my phone shows 0 bars (constantly switching from -93 to -106 to -112 to -93...etc.). The Ec/Io ranges from -00 to -6 to -28.5 to -32 to -6.5.

I thought my phone was bad, so I had Verizon order a new one. The phone was brand new even though the CS ordered a refurb (I checked the life timer and it was only at a minute of time and 1 call....to activate the phone).

The same problem happens with this phone, however this phone connects faster to the tower....20 seconds instead of 30 seconds.

Could my 8000 be using a different panel on the tower than our other 8000? What I mean is that could our other phone be locked on to say sector A (for example), while my 8000 could be locked on to sector B (where my phone doesn't receive a signal)? Or could my phone be picking up a signal from another tower that is about 4-5 miles away? I don't think it is signal pollution since our other 8000 gets a much better signal.

Why doesn't my 8000 work as well as our other 8000 does? My 8000 says calling...calling......and finally after about 20 seconds it connects to the system, and it goes up from 0 bars to 2-3 inside and 3-4 outside. Does this sound like a tower problem?

My other 8000 receives a -92 db (2 bars) while stationary whereas my 8000 (the one I got replaced) shows no bars whatsoever.

What should I do? It is not the phone, since as soon as I leave my neighborhood, and drive about 2 miles away I get a full signal.

Should I call Verizon and have them issue a trouble ticket? What should I tell them? I don't know anyone that has Verizon in my area besides my sister and her phone receives a good signal while my doesn't.

I am happy with Verizon and their network, but not happy with this problem that I am now facing.

Thanks in advance for anyone's help with my problem.

 

Update:

No one can hear me on the refurbished phone...the mouthpiece doesn't even work.

I went to my local store and spoke with a tech. in the store. He said that Verizon should have replaced my 8000 with a brand new one last Monday (since it was the 30 day limit). They didn't do that (probably since that tech. that I dealt with last week (who wasn't there today) didn't have a ******* clue )).

So I spoke with the manager of the store today and they will receive a brand new 8000 in their shipment tomorrow and that will be mine. :biggrin:

So all is well.....even though you occasionally get a duss rep that doesn't know what he is doing. Sorry for ranting but my experience in a week's time has gotten me pretty mad at Verizon....but at least they fixed the problem.

I will post another update tomorrow (hopefully if the phone comes in on time).

 

:hmm:

My sister's 8000 uses 6 P_REV and the Active Pilot is 136.

My 8000 has a Active Pilot of 438.

So what does this mean to me?

No I won't be left in peace.....maybe someone put a curse on me. The phone is working better now so hopefully everything is ok.

 

Yep.

Like I mentioned in another thread, if my parents go to Europe for a week they will buy a unlocked quad or tri band GSM phone to use in Europe with a prepaid sim.

That is if they go. If they do, then I can try out a prepaid carrier in my neighborhood...maybe 7 Eleven since they use Cingular's network.

I think that since our area doesn't have EV-DO yet, the tower doesn't recognize our phone.....but I may be wrong.

The brand new phone is acting better so hopefully the problem is fixed.

 

It switches between offset 432 (not 438 sorry ) and 132 (not 136....misread the field test screen).

I wonder if it is trying to pick up a EV-DO tower or the phone is confused.

When I switch it to Alltel, it works perfectly.

We probably should have got Alltel.

Oh well....but the weird thing is that I am wondering if Verizon has messed around with the towers....

Also there is a lot of construction going on and there is a big antenna about 2 miles from our house that is used for a crane company so they can talk on their handheld radios....so I am wondering if that messes up the phones.

But like I said, it seems like this phone is better.....

Only time will tell.

 

Thanks YourDaddy.

VCAST isn't in our area yet, but I won't use it anyway.....

The brand new phone now is completely brand new (battery & phone) so as of right now it seems like it is working well. I will have to keep my eye on it.

 

Yep.

The Ec/Io levels are the same on both phone.

The refurb. levels were all over the place.

Verizon doesn't charge me for roaming on Alltel, do they?

Can I roam on Alltel say four months in a row without being sent a letter to lay off on the roaming? Or is their a limit to the number of months back to back where they don't won't you roaming constantly?

Thanks for your help Andy.

I appreciate it.

 

Tell me about it.

I have been to my Verizon store 7 times within the last 10 days....

I just want a carrier that works well for me.....is that too much to ask?

 

Thanks Charlyee.

It seems like the new phone is definitely working better....now the mouthpiece doesn't make me sound like I am 500 feet below the surface in a well.

 

Well I haven't seen anything strange happen in my house like in Poltergeist.....:biggrin:

So all is good....so far.

Only time will tell.

 

Well Alltel is free roam in my area so that is good news.

The bad news is that the Verizon signal works better some days than others.

But today it is working well.....so go figure.

 

I bet that is what is happening to me then.

Why does that happen larry?

Does it depend on the daily use of the tower in my area?

I don't know if I should call Verizon or not. I get a good enough signal to make and receive calls. So until it gets worse, I think I will hold off on calling them.