Hero will not automatically roam back onto the 3 network!

steve_

Hey guys i got a hero a while ago and had issues getting it online i finally solved it by updating the radio rom, however whenever i move out of 3g coverage like when im inside my home it roams onto the vodafone network to provide a 2g connection. The thing is when i go back outside again it doesn't automatically connect back to 3, instead iv to turn on airplane mode to turn off all wireless signals and then turn it off again, and the phone then connects back to the 3 network. Any ideas how to fix this annoying little issue?

blaz

The solution is simple: switch to another operator, preferably to one that does not need to roam nationally (i.e. neither 3 nor Meteor). Seriously.

This is an issue with roaming as such - once you roam onto another operator the phone will try to keep that connection. Not only the Hero does that, all phones do. The reason for that is that switching from one operator to another is "expensive" - i.e. the phone has to log off the current operator and log on to the other operator, which takes a second or two. This drains your battery (more then switching from one cell to another) and also disconnects any ongoing phone calls or data connections.

What might work is moving out of your current cell, i.e. go far enough from your home that the phone loses the signal from the current mast and it will search for another signal and at that point it will probably switch back to 3.

dermot_sheehan

this is how to do it on the android G1, not sure if it'd work on Hero.

Download a program called Any Cut from android market

install it

open it and go to new shortcut

go to activity and then phone info

install the shortcut,

click on the shortcut, scroll down and ensure under "set preferred network type" that WCDMA preferred is selected

blaz

gabhain7 wrote: »

click on the shortcut, scroll down and ensure under "set preferred network type" that WCDMA preferred is selected

"WCDMA preferred" is the default, so this will do nothing.

steve_

yeah WCDMA is already selected.....

cowboy1981

steve_ wrote: »

Hey guys i got a hero a while ago and had issues getting it online i finally solved it by updating the radio rom, however whenever i move out of 3g coverage like when im inside my home it roams onto the vodafone network to provide a 2g connection. The thing is when i go back outside again it doesn't automatically connect back to 3, instead iv to turn on airplane mode to turn off all wireless signals and then turn it off again, and the phone then connects back to the 3 network. Any ideas how to fix this annoying little issue?

3 don't have a 2G network, so you keep having to switch to Vodafone when you move out of their lousy 3G coverage regions. Because you are moving operator, the handover is not seamless. Vodafone/Meteor/O2 all have both 2G and 3G networks, so you can switch seamlessly between 2G and 3G when out of 3G coverage. I would also avoid Vodafone, as neither Vodafone nor 3 have EDGE on their 2G networks. Hence you will drop back to sub-dial-up speeds when outside of 3G. Meteor and O2 both have good EDGE networks. If you have the Hero, I don't know why you didn't pick Meteor in the first place, as they are the only network offering Hero's, and you can get it heavily subsidised on €20 per month Bill-pay. Buying these kind of top-of-the-range phones SIM-free doesn't make sense.

Very nice phone though - and good choice. It is probably the closest thing to a Nexus One available here at the moment. Even has multi-touch, which is not supposed to work on Nexus One.

Solair

Unlocked iPhone on 3 does EXACTLY the same thing!

Makes it pretty useless if you go outside 3G areas, i.e. anywhere !

blaz

Forgot to say, another solution for the op's issue is to lock the phone permanently to 3.

Go to an area where you have 3's signal. Then go to Menu -> Settings -> Wireless & Networks -> Mobile Networks -> Network Operators -> Search networks. Two networks with the name "3" will appear, one of them is the real 3, the other is Vodafone. You have to figure out which one of the two is the real "3" and select that. If you select the wrong one you will be on 2G, select the other one if that happens.

After you do this, your phone will no longer roam to Vodafone at all, which obviously means you will loose your signal if you go out of their 3G coverage. This will solve your issue but also make you aware of how poor 3's coverage really is...

steve_

Only one 3 network appears in the list and I'm in a 3g region. It's not a major issue but its just a little annoying.

Walkman

blaz wrote: »

Forgot to say, another solution for the op's issue is to lock the phone permanently to 3.

Go to an area where you have 3's signal. Then go to Menu -> Settings -> Wireless & Networks -> Mobile Networks -> Network Operators -> Search networks. Two networks with the name "3" will appear, one of them is the real 3, the other is Vodafone. You have to figure out which one of the two is the real "3" and select that. If you select the wrong one you will be on 2G, select the other one if that happens.

After you do this, your phone will no longer roam to Vodafone at all, which obviously means you will loose your signal if you go out of their 3G coverage. This will solve your issue but also make you aware of how poor 3's coverage really is...

The two 3's will only appear if it's a 3 phone. OP the problem is it's not a 3 phone. The firmware on the phone is not designed to search for the 3 signal when it goes back onto their coverage. All 3 phones are set to constantly search for the 3 signal while they are roaming onto Vodafone and switch onto it when it's detected. Not much you can do about this I'd imagine.

steve_

Since doing the above suggestion about getting any cut and so on iv been unable to send sms texts

dermot_sheehan

make sure in anycut settings that your smsc is three's
i.e. +353838000000

Walkman

blaz wrote: »

The solution is simple: switch to another operator, preferably to one that does not need to roam nationally (i.e. neither 3 nor Meteor). Seriously.

This is an issue with roaming as such - once you roam onto another operator the phone will try to keep that connection

Rubbish. 3 and Meteor phones automatically switch networks and will constantly search for their respective home network when on Vodafone. When switching from 3 to Vodafone I only get a second where the signal bars drop off, calls are not disconnected but continue as normal.

steve_

gabhain7 wrote: »

make sure in anycut settings that your smsc is three's
i.e. +353838000000

Iv tried this and the number will not save as soon as I go back into phone info the numbers gone

blaz

Walkman wrote: »

The two 3's will only appear if it's a 3 phone. OP the problem is it's not a 3 phone. The firmware on the phone is not designed to search for the 3 signal when it goes back onto their coverage. All 3 phones are set to constantly search for the 3 signal while they are roaming onto Vodafone and switch onto it when it's detected. Not much you can do about this I'd imagine.

My unlocked Nokia 3120 classic shows two 3 networks if I put a 3 SIM card in it, but my Nexus One does not. Showing only one 3 network thus seems to be an Android specific bug or feature.

I don't believe there is any difference between stock vendor firmware and 3 firmware, except for branding. Can you prove otherwise?

blaz

Walkman wrote: »

Rubbish. 3 and Meteor phones automatically switch networks and will constantly search for their respective home network when on Vodafone. When switching from 3 to Vodafone I only get a second where the signal bars drop off, calls are not disconnected but continue as normal.

Yes, they will constantly search for the network, but will not switch to it. I can easily prove this in continental Europe. You drive from your home country to a neighboring country and start roaming. Then you drive back and even while you are already back in your operator's home country with full home signal, your phone will still keep on roaming. You will only switch back to your home operator once you completely loose the original signal or you force the phone to switch back, f.e. by turning it off and back on.

Loggie

All these new smart phones have widgets, newsfeeds etc that need access to a network.
I'm not sure about all this stuff but am I right in thinking that if 3 only has 3g and if you loss 3g you won't get access to data. So is meteor which has edge and 3g a better network for these devices. Does vodafone or meteor have 3.5g or H ?

What is the best network to be on for any of these new smart phones (sim free)?

Walkman

Loggie wrote: »

All these new smart phones have widgets, newsfeeds etc that need access to a network.
I'm not sure about all this stuff but am I right in thinking that if 3 only has 3g and if you loss 3g you won't get access to data. So is meteor which has edge and 3g a better network for these devices. Does vodafone or meteor have 3.5g or H ?

What is the best network to be on for any of these new smart phones (sim free)?

Depends on where your using it. All the networks have a 3G network but Meteor have hardly any coverage. If by H you mean HSDPA then again they all have this to the but it's called 3G

Walkman

blaz wrote: »

Yes, they will constantly search for the network, but will not switch to it. I can easily prove this in continental Europe. You drive from your home country to a neighboring country and start roaming. Then you drive back and even while you are already back in your operator's home country with full home signal, your phone will still keep on roaming. You will only switch back to your home operator once you completely loose the original signal or you force the phone to switch back, f.e. by turning it off and back on.

Again I say rubbish. I am with 3, if I am outside 3 coverage and go back again my phone always switches back onto 3. Do you think 3 and Meteor want to pay anymore roaming charges to Vodafone than they have to? Of course they don't that is why their phones will switch back to the home network as soon as it becomes available.

blaz

Walkman wrote: »

Again I say rubbish. I am with 3, if I am outside 3 coverage and go back again my phone always switches back onto 3. Do you think 3 and Meteor want to pay anymore roaming charges to Vodafone than they have to? Of course they don't that is why their phones will switch back to the home network as soon as it becomes available.

Can you please do a test for me? Disable 3G on your phone. Wait for it to pick up the Vodafone signal. Now reenable Dual mode (2G/3G) on your phone. Don't move anywhere while you are doing this. How long does it take to roam back onto 3?

opus

Walkman wrote: »

The two 3's will only appear if it's a 3 phone. OP the problem is it's not a 3 phone. The firmware on the phone is not designed to search for the 3 signal when it goes back onto their coverage. All 3 phones are set to constantly search for the 3 signal while they are roaming onto Vodafone and switch onto it when it's detected. Not much you can do about this I'd imagine.

Are you sure about that? I've a unbranded Nokia N82 that I bought in Germany that works fine on the 3 network, doesn't have any problem moving back to the '3' signal when it's available.

Walkman

blaz wrote: »

Can you please do a test for me? Disable 3G on your phone. Don't move anywhere while you are doing this. How long does it take to roam back onto 3?

Thats my point. On a 3 branded handset you cannot disable 3G. While in 3's coverage you can even manually select vodafone. After a minute or so the phone will latch onto 3 again an the network selection option will be set back to it's default which is automatic.

blaz

Walkman wrote: »

Thats my point. On a 3 branded handset you cannot disable 3G. While in 3's coverage you can even manually select vodafone. After a minute or so the phone will latch onto 3 again an the network selection option will be set back to it's default which is automatic.

Ah, I forgot that you can't disable 3G on a 3 branded phone. I just did this test on a unbranded Nokia 3120 classic. I locked it to Vodafone by disabling 3G. Then I reenabled dual 2G/3G mode. It found the Vodafone 3G signal for a brief second and tried to logon, but was immediately disconnected. It then completely lost signal for about 10 seconds while it was looking for another signal, in this time I could not make a call or use data at all. It the logged back into the 2G Vodafone signal for almost 5 minutes, but then finally found 3's 3G signal and switched over to it.

jimmycrackcorm

My sim-free non-3 N95 switches back to 3 automatically when the signal is present.

conor.hogan.2

steve_ wrote: »

Since doing the above suggestion about getting any cut and so on iv been unable to send sms texts

all good now.

conor.hogan.2

fixed now

the message center number for three is +353830000800

borygo77

had the same issue with galaxy spicia and that was the reason to send them phone back. Then I borrowed htc desire from fella and got same issue When those two phones catch vodafone which was displayed as vodafone! I could'nt move back to 3 even after reset my phone in good 3G reception on other phones!
My old W705 had no problems to switch back when I lost 3G and most interesting is that I got E72 as upgrade and that phone keeping 3G where other had no reception at all. Happy with it but symbian is terrible Nokia dose'nt made any changes from time when I got my first symbian phone which was 7650.