[gadgetman]

Audio distortion on the 7100t after the upgrade has been a real problem. People I called would hear a strong static sound especially at the end of spoken words. Everyone complained about it. We had two 7100t phones and it happened on both after the upgrade. One was purchased in October 2004 and the other in March 2005. I replaced the older phone and will not be installing the upgrade and it's perfect. (The upgrade doesn't seem to add much from what I can see.) Anyone else having the problem? Does RIM know about it I wonder?

[jeffmcclan]

Several people have complained about hearing audio distortion on their landline phone when we talk on our two 7100t's with 4.0. I don't remember if the problem existed with v3.8 but we try to limit our speaking voice so as not to exasterbate the problem.

I am receiving a replacement 7100t on 4/5 (which will likely have v3.8 )
Given your post, I will listen for audio distortion on a landline to try to determine if the OS really makes any difference before upgrading to v4.0.

[amassere]

I too have the same problem. Im thinking of downgrading and finding out if its going to do the same thing...but...I CANT!....its a company Berry

[rcg]

I have not had anyone complain about my 7100t. The handset is an original from Oct '04 now running 4.0.0.198.

[jamesiv]

anyupdates to this issue would be greatly appreciated. I am on 4.0.0.198 with a new tmobile 7100t which I upgraded to 4.0 (unfortunately before readign these posts) I thougth I read something about upgrading to 4.0.0.219. Does anyone know if this is fixing the issue or if going back to 3.8 is the only option?

Thanks

[Azeke]

No do not upgrade, I went from 4.0.0.218 to 4.0.0.219 that is when my issues began.

Regards,

Azeke

[jamesiv]

WEll after a lot of pain and hours I was able to revert back to the 3.8 version of the software. So far no more complaints of the Audio Distortion issue. I am wondering if T-Mobile is aware of this and if anything is in the works or being done about this. Any recomendations on how we get this escalated because it seems to be an issue (maybe even one some people don't know is happening since it is on the receiving persons end of phone calls made with the 7100t) Thanks..

[pcurran]

I purchased a new 7100T over the weekend (OS 4.0.0.189) and had the described audio destortion problems. After speaking with RIM and reading the posts on this forum, I downloaded and installed OS 3.8.0.128 and phone works perfectly. Thanks too all who posted the information and links.

Pete

[jamesiv]

I'm trying to figure out what may have caused this problem. I can remember when I upgraded my phone to v4.0 at the very end of the process the phone went into "hourglass" mode and stayed like that for about 5-10 minutes. I thought something went wrong and did a reset and removed the batt and then turned it back on. I am wondering if there is any chance I could have corrupted the OS install and maybe if someone else can confirm if they did the same we could figure this out. I am just very confused because if the Audio Distortion problem was happening because of 4.0 then we should be seeing thousands of complaints, but we are not so I'm thinking it is during a 4.0 upgrade that something goes wrong. Please anyone who may be able to help prove or disprove my theory do so! thanks!!!

[Hoppy Junior]

Wow, You Guy's Are Unreal!

I have a 7100t. I bought the phone on March 29th, ran home, and instantly upgraded to 4.0 before ever using the phone. Whenever I made a call my friends would comment on the poor phone quality...static, dropped words, etc.

T-Mobile was no help. RIM was helpful, but didn't have any idea about the issue. Then I came on Blackberry Forums, and wallah, a real answer by real end user's. Then I went into T-Mobile's site and they only had v. 4.0. What to do? Back to the Blackberry forums where Jibi had posted the 3.8 download. THANKS Jibi!

I deleted 4.0 from XP Add/Remove Programs, and then downloaded 3.8. What a difference! It's actually a real cellphone again. No static, no inferior voice quality, no clipped words. It works the way it should.

RIM tech support told me that the only major difference between 3.8 and 4.0 is that 4.0 has full wireless support for enterprise servers. Since I don't connect or get e-mail through an enterprise server...no biggie for me.

The phone also operates much faster in 3.8. No lag when you press the keys when dialing. Thanks to all of you who posted on the problem.

[jamesiv]

Just wanted to post the official response I got from T-Mobile on this issue. I think this is unaceptabe. Granted just downgrading the software to 3.8 does fix the problem and that is what I have done... I would hope though RIM or T-mobile starts to look at this for future releases.

Thank you for taking the time to contact T-Mobile.

The site blackberryforums.com is not an official RIM affiliated site. Thought it seems this is a common issue, RIM has yet to notify our support staff of the known issue and provide a reasonable solution to resolve the problem. Generally this is done via software update/patch. As no official details have been provided, we can only suggest replacing the phone.

If you have any other comments, questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us anytime.

Thank you for choosing T-Mobile.

Will
Advanced Technical Care
T-Mobile USA

[Hoppy Junior]

I have to say that the T-Mobile 7100t tech support is number 4 on a scale of 10. But they are clueless about many issues...including the horrible sound quality with 4.0. As stated before, I downgraded (which was a true upgrade) to 3.8, and quality was much better.

That said, the sound quality for the person that I am speaking with is not the best. They complain that it "sounds like you're calling from underwater," to "it sounds like you're calling from a tunnel." The funny thing is that my incoming reception is crystal clear.

I recently gave up my Blackberry e-mail service because of a change in jobs. Eventually I will go back. First my service read gprs in small letters. Then I had T-Mobile change the service to straight GSM. Much better RF after that.

Any suggestions on how to improve outgoing call quality?

[efs300]

I also complained to RIM about the audio quality of the 7100g here is their rather useless response. Everyone should email at a minumum to complain about the audio quality of the 7100:

Thank you for contacting BlackBerry Technical Support. We are pleased to assist you.

I am sorry to hear of the issues that you and your colleagues have been experiencing with the BlackBerry 7100g. While we have not been made aware of systemic problems with the speaker on the 7100g, we are constantly striving to produce BlackBerry Handhelds that exceed our customer's expectations. If you believe that this is a systematic problem on the BlackBerry 7100g, please e-mail .

If this issue does not seem to be systemic on the BlackBerry 7100g, it may be possible that the phone application on the Handheld is corrupt. If the phone application is corrupt, sound control on the Handheld will not function properly. To resolve an issue with the phone application on the Handheld, run Application Loader to reinstall the Handheld software.

There may also be a problem with low service coverage. If the BlackBerry Handheld is in a low service coverage area, the phone volume may be insufficient to overcome poor signal quality. Cingular will be able to provide detailed information on coverage and the required signal for voice service to function properly.

If you have any further questions, please reply to this email using your Service Request number as it appears above. I hope that you have found this information helpful, and thank you again for contacting us.

[keithc]

Just a shot in the dark, but are you upgrading to 4.0.0.219 for the 7100g? I got my phone with the first 4.0 release and I always try to stay current. I always go to the latest release from the BB site and I experience none of those issues. The phone has never been on 3.8 that I know of, it's just too new. This makes me wonder if this is not really an upgrade issue, possibly leaving bits of flotsam and jetsam on the phone.

[SUFan]

Does anyone wonder why computers and other tech devices seem to be exempt from basic warranties and consumer protection? Could you imagine if your car dealer or the manufacturer of your new appliance, lawn mower, water heater or whatever told you to go through all this crap rather than fix/replace their product and make it right?

I have been in IT a long time and am really starting to get annoyed with inheriant problems whether it be pc hardware, application software, operating systems etc....somehow we have all become accustomed to wasting our time and fixing problems with products that others profit from. Just some food for thought.

[SUFan]

As a side note I have alot of 7100G users that get complaints from people they talk with about distortion or poor sound quality.

[emale]

I have been in IT a long time and am really starting to get annoyed with inheriant problems whether it be pc hardware, application software, operating systems etc....somehow we have all become accustomed to wasting our time and fixing problems with products that others profit from. Just some food for thought.

This is what I love about computers, its a challenge and that keeps it interesting and also happens to keep me employed (Hansomley I might add)

Where would you be if it all worked right away first try? Would the IT industry be nearly as biig as it is today?

Computers dont just solve problems they also create them

[barjohn]

Thought I would update all. I downgraded to 3.8 and sound quality vastly improved; however, it introduces a problem that makes the phone almost unusable if you travel. For example, if you turn off the radio in an airplane and then turn it back on (or just leave it on and let it lose signal), the indicator comes on and the antenna shows a signal; however, the unit will not receive or make outgoing calls. You will have no indication that it is not receiving calls until you try and make a call. This happens intermitently so you can never be sure when it is happening. You go to make a call and the call never completes or does not go through. You have to hard reboot the phone before it works again and you all know how long that takes.

Why can't BB get this right? Of course, if you don't travel you may never see this behavior. I am down to carrying a Verizon phone with me so that I can be sure and get my calls. I'm ready to go back to the BB950 as it was a reliable email device.

[richw2]

I just puchased a new 7100v with 4.00.198, no problems at all..Now I am over in Germany with Vodophone..but again no problems with sound.

[LunkHead]

I upgraded to 4.0 on my 7100T a while back when it was 1st released by T-Mobile. After the upgrade everyone was telling me to get a new phone because the phone quality was horrid. I was constantly having to repeat myself and had people tell me I sounded scratchy, like I was in a wind tunnel ect... I went back to 3.8 and it has solved ALL the phone issues.

Anyone having trouble with phone quality should seriously consider going back to 3.8