Hi, ive got an HTC moby on O2 and for ages now the signals been sh!te, was never that good in the beginning either but im sure its got worse, O2 says not. so what im after is either a setting or app that not only tells me which networks i can detect at home but also the strengths, does such a thing exist??

only thing i can find, like most mobiles, is a network setting which tells me the detected networks but no idea on the signal strength. i know i can buy a sim card but thats no good for the wifeys phone as its locked to O2 and its hers thats due for renewal, as she likes the phone it might be a sim only deal

these coverage checkers arent much cop either as it says i have 5 bars on O2 which, even outside the house, is wrong

also has anybody used UMA on orange? as thats another option if she gets a newer moby in the deal, from what i hear it HAS to come on an orange supplied phone but does it work?

also has anybody used UMA on orange? as thats another option if she gets a newer moby in the deal, from what i hear it HAS to come on an orange supplied phone but does it work?

I do occasionally use UMA on Orange, but it kills the battery on my BlackBerry (you need to enable WiFi on the phone). Perhaps a better way of getting the calls made to your mobile would be to divert them to your landline? Most networks allow you to divert 'when no network coverage' rather than 'divert all calls' and then you have to switch the divert on and off all the time.......

As to real life network coverage - could you not get some of your mates round who are not on O2 and see what sort of signal strength they get?

OpenSignalMaps might be worth a look if you live in a good area where people use it. It's like a coverage checker, but based on an app running on people's phones which measures the actual signal strength and not the "guesstimated" signal strength you'll get from the network operator.

Unfortunately if there aren't people running it in your area, it's useless, so get friends and family on different networks to install it as well and you could get a rough idea.

thanks for the tips guys

you'd think there'd be a network signal tester wouldnt you, in my eyes it sounds simple but what do i know lol

ill keep searching

also has anybody used UMA on orange?

Or you could try SureSignal on Vodafone which works with any 3g phone and not just a select few ones like the UMA system.

A few years ago I bought a couple of those RFID type antenna (like the anti shoplifting coils in computer game boxes), and stuck them inside the battery compartment of my Sony phone, they made a pretty big difference to the signal strength in my area, going from 2-3 bars to full strength, and giving me 1-2 bars in a previously dead spot outside of a local school.

nice tip gg, i might have to try pinching some of these

are we talking about the very flat, blue, coil like stickers or the long white type with a bar code on them 4.5x1cm (got one on a box here)

They are a squarish coil in a coppery gold colour, inside a transparent piece of stickyback cellophane; you are only supposed to use one, but I overlapped and used 3; I know you can still get them, because I spotted them on Ebay last summer.

Can't you get the dB readings from the phone itself? (Assuming it's on Andriod is it's an HTC.)

Somewhere under settings -> status/about phone. It then lists the signal strength in dB. The higher the number the better. From memory -60dB is very good, -100+ is pretty poor.

cheers for that triggerfish, something i didnt know

thats handy for my o2, -100 roughly here which as you say is poor but id like to be able to know what the other networks would give me on this phone, it detects vodaphone and orange but when i try to connect to them to test your idea, it says sim wont let me

i guess i could just buy/obtain a free sim or two to try as my phones unlocked