Poor reception with Motorola V551

Hi everyone. I just got the V551 recently and I am getting pretty poor reception in San Mateo, CA. My friend has a nokia phone and she gets much better reception in the same area. In buildings sometimes I get no reception at all, and it is rather annoying, since I really like all the features of the phone. Anybody have any suggestions on how I could improve the reception? Would it help to maybe bring it to some cingular service store and have them look at it? Thanks for the help!

not sure if you can do much about the reception like change the antenna, but nokia's reception is hard to beat

I had a similar problem when I first activated my v551. My wife's Samsung phone got much better reception. At home she was 4-5 bars while I was 0-2 bars. We did a test while traveling from Boston to Connecticut and found while we had the same reception most of the time, there were quite a few areas where my Moto phone would drop off the network while hers was still 2-3 bars.

I went back and reported this at the local Cingular store and walked out in 5 minutes with a new v551 that has dramatically better reception than the original one.

The sales rep mumbled something about a transceiver problem and told me to let me know if I had further problems. While he wasn't explicit, it seems like Moto might have had some issues and changed or upgraded the transceiver along the way. You might well have one of the "problem" lot. If your inside the 30 day warranty window, you should be able to get a replacement right at the store. Just make sure you let them know your friend's phone works where yours does not.

I used to have the same problem with my Motorola v505 while on AT&T Wireless' network... later I've bought the retractable antenna for it. The dropped calls dramatically decreased and in the buildings i get better reception!!! try that might help!

Unfortunately there are some phones that are defective when they are recieved.

I would reccomend troubleshooting the phone with care (of course call from a different phone).

there may be an issue in the san mateo market that they can see, or it could just be a warranty issue. In either case, they'll be able to assist you!

Having just purchased a new Motorola V551 this week, after migrating from At&T to Cingular, I immediately noticed a difference in the reception of this new phone vs my older, cheaper, Nokia model #6010 at the same locations in my home. I had 3-4 bars of connectivity with my Nokia, also I enjoyed clear sound and rarely a dropped call; but now, with the V551 I have only 0-2 bars, with garbled reception and dropped calls about 75% of the time. Moreover, I have checked my son's Nokia side-by-side with my new V551, and the difference is evident in real-time. When I am closer to a cell site, nearer the city center, and I have 4 or 5 bars, there is no problem and the issue is moot. It is when you move away at the outer areas of the cell, that the problem is evident with this model.

I am taking the advice of the previous Forum member and I will go very soon to the Cingular store and exchange the phone for another of the same model. Also, I have ordered an after-market extendable antenna from an on-line store. I hope these actions will resolve the problem......But I am skeptical at this point, based on all the data I have now read.

Therein is the greater issue for the manufacturer, why should a $69 Nokia have better connectivity and reception than a $150 + Motorola ??? This is now year 2005 and cell phone circuitry/software technology should be at a dependable level for service and customer satisfaction. All phones should be engineered to work at a very high level for what is their basic function....Sending and receiving phone calls and maybe text msgs. After that basic premise, the customer can choose a brand based on other features and options and personal preference for the overall look of the product that he/she finds appealing.

The only reason I went with the Motorola V551, is I wanted Quad band service as I travel to China each year and I wanted to be able to use the same phone in the USA (850/1900) as in China (900). Nokia does not yet produce (at least affordable) a Quad, and it it difficult to find a Bluetooth, tri-band phone that is in the 850-900-1900 Band range. Most are 850-1800-1900. I know it is difficult to make one product or model that will make everyone happy; however, I think if a manufacturer can produce a phone that has consistent excellent reception and a user friendly menu, as well as most wanted features/options and good battery life, they will make most of the people happy most of the time and they will have a real hit !!

Thank you to all that make this Forum possible.

Regarding my previous forum entry on the poor reception with my Motorola V551: I purchased (on-line) from a company in Southern California, an extendable antenna to replace the stub antenna that comes with the phone. The company has a large selection of antennas for many models of phones. They are designed to fit properly, look very nice and appear to be quite strong. I selected the longest (xxxl) which extends/telescopes in sections from approx. 1 inch to 3.5 inches. This antenna cost only $10.95 with free standard shipping available. I paid an extra $4.95 for priority mail, and received it in two days !!

I am amazed at what a difference there is (as also related previously by another forum member here) with this new antenna in the extended position !! I tested it all day and all night in various locations and also within my home. I have not experienced a single dropped or garbled call with the new antenna. I tested my obervations (in real time) by installing back the original stub antenna and immediately the signal degraded and I lost 1.5 to 2 signal bars, with distorted audio, as before.

I am otherwise very happy with the Motorola V551, so the new antenna will allow me to keep it and enjoy the other great features that I needed.

It is too bad that the manufacturer can't test for, or anticipate these issues which sometimes, with only a minor fix, can make the phone very acceptable.

This quick and easy fix has worked for me, I hope this info is of help not only to users of the V551, but maybe also other models, that utilize the threaded base external antenna

So what's the name of the site where you bought the antenna?

I had a V505 from ATT, which kept the best signal of any phone/service provider I ever had. I switched to Cingular and have had several 551's and a Nokia 6230. WOW is the Nokia better, even without an external antenna! I can't keep a signal for anything with any Moto they sent me!

ATT let you monkey with network settings on the phones, Cingular doesn't. I recommend Moding your 551 to be able to mess with network settings, or get another phone. I recommend my 6230.

Poor reception with Motorola V551

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