Nokia E71-2 reception issues? Mmm
There’s word on the big bad Internets that the E71-2 is having a bit of reception problems. If you’re a Nokia fan, you know that’s pretty hard to believe. But, we can tell you that the E71 does in fact suffer from a horrible reception problem. While our Bold and iPhone 3G are constantly on 3G, our E71 has never even picked up a 3G signal. Additionally, we’re only getting 1 bar on EDGE sometimes! What’s the quick fix? Well, as dumb as this may seem (though the out of place bright red power button is pretty damn dumb), the only place to integate the cellular radio antenna was on the bottom back. It’s pretty much the only roomy place on the device where there is no metal. If you’re suffering from reception issues with the E71, try this… first, completely cover the bottom back plastic piece with your hand, and check out the number of bars you have. Then, grab the phone just at the very top by the ear piece, and hold it for a couple seconds. Did your reception just skyrocket? Yeah, ours too. There’s only one issue with this… most people, you know, hold the phone in their hand because they want to… uh… use it. Anyone out there finding the same thing? Hit us up!
Great features but what is the point if it doesn’t work properly. I just purchased a nokia e71 and the reception is terrible in places eg in my home I have to walk around the house to get reception, verrrry annoying. Have used the same carrier with other phones with no problems. I would not recommed it for that reason alone.
im thinking or buying this phone…my 1st 3g…and i come to this site for help….if its true that you have not updated problems about the e71 what is a 1st timer like nyself to think or your site….not much………..
That’s because there is no E71 version for T-Mobile 3G frequencies, E71-2 is for ATT, E-71 is for 3G in Europe, E71-3 for 3G in Australia. Hopefully Nokia will come out with a T-Mobile 3G version
I’ve been using an unlocked E71 (don’t know which version it is) for months now on Fido in Toronto. Not once have I ever seen it use 3G. I’ve tried to manually set it to UMTS and it never picks up a signal. Using GSM however, the reception is great and I’ve never had any problems with it. Browsing works well, tethering works well but no 3G speeds.
My biggest complaint about this phone is the email client. I have it set to auto-retrieval but it constantly disables itself. VERY annoying. Unacceptable, actually.
I’ve been a die-hard Nokia user for almost 10 years now (strayed only once for the iPhone but immediately switched back) but as many people have pointed out: S60 just isn’t cutting it anymore. Nokia also used to have the best screens on the market but this hasn’t been true for quite some time now.
I LOVE the design / build quality of the E71. As far as QWERTY smartphones go (I won’t use anything else), you’ll be hard-pressed to find a better-looking unit that feels as good as the E71 does. That’s real talk.
I’ve been seriously thinking about switching to a Berry for a while now but everytime I hold one in my hand, it just doesn’t compare to my Nokia. It’s not perfect by any means but it is amazing.
If I could combine the screen of the Bold along with the emailing capabilities of a Berry and throw it into the housing of the E71, I’d be happy man.
no issue whatsoever reception is great in nigeria even on 3g networks.
I have had this phone for 2 weeks the reception is terrible it breaks up all the time. I have AT&T and I live in a strong area for GSM.
Mine has Great repception 3g and RF all the time but I get ALOT of dropped calls, the E71 is a SICK phone but the reception sux its going up for sale
Hi…
I am planning to buy Nokia E71(unlocked version) in India,If I buy this phone I will be using it in Bangalore and I dont know how is 3G network here. After reading all the reviews I am quite confused wheather to go for it or not, so please help me shall I buy this phone or not.
Thanks
yes im also having the same reception problem.I only used it one day and bought another phone.what a waste it was..
i use e71-1 and i have reception problem too, it have no reception at same place which my old SE phone was working perfect(same place same sim and network 3uk). the funny thing was i had e71 in my hand and i was desperately trying to find a place with RF and other people passing me using their handsets. just unbelievable. I love this phone but the first thing a mobile phone should do is making calls.
Old post, but I’m just stumbling on it. I know reception is really sort of a subjective thing and completely dependent on a lot of outside variables. That being said, here in Los Angeles I’ve had zero issues with my older gray E71-1 I bought last July or its white NAM brother I bought last September. Normally I have near if not full signal and I’ve never noticed hand placement disrupting the signal at all. Perhaps it is just how I hold the device, I don’t know.
The one thing I have noticed, though, the gray/chrome phones feel more solid in the hand. My white/silver back battery cover slips (especially when you try to volume up or down with the side buttons). If I put my chrome back onto the silver phone it is rock solid. I can only guess this has to do with the materials used. I have since put a piece of foam on the silver cover to keep it from moving and it is 100% solid now. Second issue, and this is definitely the oddest of the two. I wasn’t being completely honest, I’ve have 3 E71s. A second gray NAM unit I returned for the white (thanks Amazon). For the few weeks I had it, it operated exactly the same as my Chinese non-US 3G phone. I get the white one in my hands and notice almost immediately that on a 10min or longer call the phone is piping hot. Actually, if you use BlueTooth it gets even more so to where it is almost too hot too touch at times. Again, the gray under the same conditions may have gotten warm, but never hot. I can only guess that the stainless steal heats up faster/hotter than the chrome. Now I’m looking to simply swap all silver hardware on this phone with chrome to make a white/chrome phone. Yeah, I know…
About two months ago, I purchased the E-71 based on the beauty of the phone. I loved the shape,size and material. After using these months I still love its beauty with the exception that it gets smudged very easily. It’s operation is great, it is extremely fast. I use excel quite a bit and you can do anything with it. As far as reception I have noticed that if the signal is a bit weak it will become unstable, bars go up and down very quickly. I have compared with the E-61 which does not show this rapid up and down movement of the signal bars. It surely seems to loose the signal faster. If this is an antenna problem (at the bottom, etc.)I don’t know if a firmware upgrade can fix this. I hope I’m wrong. What I do hope is that Nokia trys to fix this model and not come out with a replacement model E-71 X or whatever and leave us stuck with the model many of us bought.
I have major problems with my reception. I had a simple Cybershot before but i didn’t have any problem with reception in my office. Now i have to walk half way around the car park to talk. I have tried turning it upside down and i get a great reception and for some reason if i take the back off the signal is better. The worst thing is the calls dropping all of the time which is really winding me up. I have covered the bottom as well and the signal dies!
I have read alot of the comments made by you all and this is my first post here. There seems to be alot of reference to other phones and it detracts from the issue at hand, which is, reception problems of the E71. I’ve just bought one E71-1 4 weeks ago and think it is a top phone, but reception sucks badly. I went back to my provider and had a SIM swap to no avail. I have an old Nokia 6280 slide, so I put my SIM in that phone and full reception no drop out. The E71 constantly drops out goes into roaming and is giving me the shits. Is THE FIX going to be replacing the metal back for a plastic one? ( dont like the idea of drilling holes in the back to enable entry of foreign matter) or just take it back and get is fixed( what is the manufacturers fix?) or see if i can swap it for the new E71 with next G capabilities or MEGA phone as they are calling it here in Australia.
Up graded firmware form 100.07.76 to 200.21.118 and reception is no better still. Hmphh
My 44 days old E71 stopped having access to GSM networks irrespective of SIM card of any provider. Once if it lost its reception it fails to regain the reception even the phone is under the Network tower. The phone is able to regain the reception only after a booting. It is able to search and find all available networks but does not connect to the network whose SIM is inserted. I took the phone to the local Nokia service centre. They said the problem is due to some Hardware problem. They send the phone to New Delhi for the servicing today. They also said this problem is seen in N-series and E-series.I lost confidence in this phone. And spend 16 days without a phone. After 16 days I got the phone back. I don’t know what this Nokia Service centre did with my phone. My got a free trip to Delhi without me. Still the phone is showing the same complaint. Is there any way to report this complaint direct to Nokia? Please Help. If a problem like this still exists on an expensive phone like this Why this Nokia doesn’t take any adequate steps to solve this? Kindly respond!…+919746598781
You can try the HARD RESET which rsets back to original firmware etc. Backup all your stuff first then;
press *+3+ Green Button
I have the same problem with the reception when using it in my basement. The signal bar just goes up and down like a yo-yo. when texting, i notice my signal bars dropping because my hand kind of cover the bottom part where the antenna is and when i let it go, the bars went back up to its fullest (or almost). Btw, i got the e71-3. so i think not only the -2 is having problem with reception but also the -3.
Dear all,
I bought a brand new E71 2 weeks ago and since then the signal is unstable and now it’s totally gone.The illustration is matched with this one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gi1gHDa7-X0 Could u plz share how i can handle this big problem?
@Hawko..
Have you ever tried it? and how is the result? please reply great thanks
I returned the 1st Nokia E71 for poor reception and the 2nd is no better. We keep getting cut off and it cannot be an area problem as our former 6330 worked perfectly.
I will return the unit and try to swap for Blackberry as I like the querty system
MW
friend…As u said this is not funny.I love this phone very much.Even the problem exists.My 24 days old phone too has this problem.
You think this is bad? You should try the latest E75!
I struggle to get a signal no matter where I hold it!
Without a doubt the E-71 has reception issues. The genius that designed the antena on the bottom should be promoted and transferred to a department where no designing is involved. The problem with Nokia is that they are like CIA, FBI and KGB all rolled into one. It is very secretive, they will not admit to anything being wrong. I feel that if there was a mistake admit it, say that the engineers are working on a solution. Get a firmware update out there soon. I have always been a loyal Nokia user but with several problem phones like the 6120, E71 and others, I have moved to Blackberry. These people will come out and admit if there is a problem and inform everyone that the problem is being looked into. They are constanly disigning upgrades to their firmware and all is out in the open. I certainly hope Nokia comes out of this sitting on their laurels and bragging about being the best selling phones in the world or they will loose more and more users. Meanwhile I can honestly recommend Blackberry for those of you disappointed with Nokia.
Nokia E-71 is one of the amazing Cell phone in the world,Thanks Nokia!I had Bold 9000 but E-71 is much more better.
yes this does work but what a pain in the ass. My reception woes seem to be most prevelant indoors. Outside seems to be much better. When i upgraded my firmware the camera wont take clear shots, all blury and the video has a purple hue to it. Seriously thinking of doing the Hard Reset. Might even get another phone and give this to the missus. Iphone=crap signal too. If anyone can give me info on the BEST EVER phone with A+++++++ signal not matter where you are ( basement, elevator, The moon ha ha ) i will get it.