Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

General discussion

Motorola v180 w/ T-Mobile

Mar 30, 2005 1:51PM PST

I have been using my Motorola v180 with T-Mobile for a few months now, and while the reception is not on par with that of CDMA networks, that is to be expected from GSM. What I am curious about is a feature I found under Menu->Settings->Network->Network Setup
It is simply called 'Speed' the options are Slow, Medium (Default), Fast, and Continuous. I'm assuming that it has some relevancy to the frequency with which the GSM packets are sent? I tried bumping it to Fast and looking for a notable call quality increase (still generaly poor, as I have felt is a trend somewhat with T-Mobile, specificaly its building penetration... ug)unfortunetly I feel the only change was a slight placebo effect. Does anyone know anything specific about this option? Or more importantly, any options I might try to increase call quality? (bars are fine, I can have them at full or one from it and still get static in calls.)

Discussion is locked

- Collapse -
I have the V180 Cingular version but...
Jun 1, 2005 5:17PM PDT

I looked for what you asked on my phone. What I found was a setting for the bands.

From the Mot web page for the phone
"Bands : GSM 850/900/1900 MHz networks"

Mine is set for automatic.

Unless I'm confused I think this is the speed it refers to. I think how much difference you might get from one of these to another might depend on several factors. Line of sight, density of stuff in between, distance, possably usage I.E. voice or data, and probably other factors.

You might want to search the internet on this.

http://direct.motorola.com/
Enter country > put V180 in search bar

Moto website where you can find the v180 electronic handbook can be DLed there as well. I like that better than the print because you can do a search.

- Collapse -
static
Jun 1, 2005 5:40PM PDT

>>(bars are fine, I can have them at full or one from it and still get static in calls.)

In general static probably isn't a function of signal strength. Sometimes signal cutting out can sound like static however. Also over driven signals can cause clipping which some describe as static although it doesn't sound like static to me. I have noticed a clipping sound if my V180 level is turned up all the way sometimes. Might for test purposes try a headset or vice versa if using headset. I know my descriptions of static and clipping may seem somewhat abstract but typical the cause is very different and helps define where in the path the distortion is coming from.

Given you said it is indipendent of signal strength then I'd think it might be some sort of equipment problem. This could be your phone or something in the tower on path. If it's the phone you'd probably get it all the time. If it's in the towers or the other side it might vary from connection to connection even from the same location. Depending on the node you hit.

- Collapse -
feature
Jun 1, 2005 10:42PM PDT

I am pretty sure that feature is for the transfer of data (internet) from/to the phone and not actual call quality.

- Collapse -
Mhz is probably the radio frequancy.
Jun 2, 2005 8:40AM PDT

It's in MHz at least on the Cingualar which as is the connect frequency I think. But I agree it shouldn't change voice much. It would effect the data transfer rate somewhat as well. That's if it's the same on the provider they are using. Faster connect rates allow faster data transfer all other things being equal.