Echo in phone calls on G1

[CJ Chitwood]

Does anyone here notice an annoying echo when on a G1 phone call? I notice it badly when calling my wife (she uses a Sidekick LX). On my old phone I only occasionally heard an echo but with the G1 itLs on every call I make to my wife ... I donLt call othwr people enough to really know if itLs just my wifeLs phone or mine or both/neither, but I wanted to know if anyone else had this. I have heard it both with and without the earbuds BTW...

[unknown.soul]

Lol it's Alt+L not Shift+L
I haven't noticed an echo on phone calls.

[adntigger710]

I have the same problem, and it's only to my parents landline. I can't even imagine what the issue is, but it's pretty annoying.

[CJ Chitwood]

i realize it's alt... i've been losing a LOT of sleep since I got my G1... understandably... been too tired to care... "lol"... ;)

[Evnldr]

It happens with all phones.. i think it's the service at times if i hang up and call back its ok

[lil_meow]

I have the echo problem too, but it only happens when I call my home land line. I didn't hear any echo when I was on the phone calling another cell phone. I haven't made any other calls to another land line though.

[GrimShadows]

I have yet to have this problem.. I did get it quite often on my BB Pearl..

[LatinMessiah]

I only noticed echo when I was talking to a T-Mobile customer service rep. :confused:

[Igashu]

I have the same problem, and it's only to my parents landline. I can't even imagine what the issue is, but it's pretty annoying.

Exactly the same problem. Mostly when I call my parents' landline. It's not really like a faint echo, either. It's very clear, and very distracting. I speak into the receiver and about a half second later, whatever I've said starts coming out of the earpiece, and I feel like I'm talking over myself.

[juice]

Yeah, the echo sucks.

Noticed it the first day I had my phone.

[Igashu]

Is this a very widespread problem? Is it a faulty hardware issue where I could just get the phone replaced or is it just a problem with the design?

[JPH3]

My phone echoes like crazy. I also noticed there is a longer delay in voice. Lots of talking at the same time confusion. Weird.

[Igashu]

In my opinion, this is the only showstopper issue I've seen so far with this phone. I love everything else about it, really, and the things I love *less* are all easily updatable via software. The echo thing though -- I had a Nokia 6600 for the last like, six years, and I never once had this issue. Seems like a problem... :(

[lil_meow]

Exactly the same problem. Mostly when I call my parents' landline. It's not really like a faint echo, either. It's very clear, and very distracting. I speak into the receiver and about a half second later, whatever I've said starts coming out of the earpiece, and I feel like I'm talking over myself.

Are you parents using the cordless phone for that landline? I just did a test calling my office number, no echo, home number answered by regular phone, no echo and home number again with cordless phone, echo! So it seems to me that the cordless phone is the problem...

[CJ Chitwood]

I'll lend a little more to this... I've noticed every time I call my wife's sidekick LX there's an echo, AND that's about the only time I notice it... I think I may have heard it somewhere else, but not as distinct. With my wife's sidekick, it's very clear and crisp... quieter than my own voice, but very easy to make out. Even a bird flying by chirping gets echoed.

[JAWheat411]

I have noticed echo a good bit. I found out it happens mainly when I am calling and a voicemail answers.

[pllb]

Yes, I also had it really bad in my first handset which I returned and the 2nd one. It was really bad..it sounded almost like I was talking to myself. I've never had this issue with my e51 phone which is what I have had to revert back to.

[dippedinsauce]

happens to me when i call my friends iphone and only sometimes too, she gets bad service in her house and it seems like only when shes in her house i get echo

[CJ Chitwood]

So maybe it's a service quality thing because I know we haven't got the best signal in our house, which is where she is 99% of the time I call her.

Can't speak for the other blokes...

[Igashu]

Are you parents using the cordless phone for that landline? I just did a test calling my office number, no echo, home number answered by regular phone, no echo and home number again with cordless phone, echo! So it seems to me that the cordless phone is the problem...

That's the strangest part. I don't think it has to do with their actual phones, because it happens even if they're not home and I get forwarded to their (telco-provided) voicemail service.

Very very strange.

[Igashu]

So, I found that if I switch the G1 to "use only 2G networks" the problem goes away. This is almost as annoying though, having to switch 3G on and off based on whether I'd like to make a phonecall or use my data connection. Would be nice if there was an option to use 2G networks for voice and 3G for data. :/

[CJ Chitwood]

Ahh... I shall have to try that. I don't have 3G for T-Mobile here... is it possible some signal is going 3G by other carriers? I've heard it said the frequencies are different, but is it to say the phone isn't capable of those frequencies?

[fuelafire]

Yes! I just got a G1 here on the east coast, and about 95% of the calls I make have serious echo problems, where I hear my voice with a substantial delay. The person on the other end hears a tinny voice quality, and if I don't hear the echo, then the other person does! I called TMobile, and they said they'd have a tech go "check the towers" in the area. Hasn't happened yet.

This is a deal breaker for me if it can't be resolved ASAP. I'm going crazy with the echo, so I'll just return the phone and quit TMobile.

[GasBot]

Yes! I just got a G1 here on the east coast, and about 95% of the calls I make have serious echo problems, where I hear my voice with a substantial delay. The person on the other end hears a tinny voice quality, and if I don't hear the echo, then the other person does! I called TMobile, and they said they'd have a tech go "check the towers" in the area. Hasn't happened yet.

This is a deal breaker for me if it can't be resolved ASAP. I'm going crazy with the echo, so I'll just return the phone and quit TMobile.
I've noticed that on alot of phones (especially candy bar style phones) that if the other person's phone's volume is too high, that I'll hear myself echoing. I ask them to turn down their volume and it fixes it 99% of the time. If they hear an echo then I just turn down my volume.

[CJ Chitwood]

I think that's the case with one of our supervisors. My echo was very strong and with about a one second delay, so he was either on speaker or his volume was Way up. I'll ask him next time I see him.

May be the same with my wife's SideKick LX. I called her while she was in bed one morning, and she rolled over and suddenly the echo showed up. I thought it was a signal / celltower thing, but I suppose it could have been honest actual physical echo and not some electronics glitch.

[fuelafire]

The echo problem is "solved" by switching off the 3G and going into 2G mode. Seems to have been the only way so far.

[CJ Chitwood]

I'll keep an eye on it... thanks for the suggestion! I turned off my 3G about a week or so ago (since we don't have T-Mo 3G here in Jacksonville) and I haven't noticed the echo but maybe once or twice since, so that may well be it...

[Don Won]

Does anyone here notice an annoying echo when on a G1 phone call? I notice it badly when calling my wife (she uses a Sidekick LX). On my old phone I only occasionally heard an echo but with the G1 itLs on every call I make to my wife ... I donLt call othwr people enough to really know if itLs just my wifeLs phone or mine or both/neither, but I wanted to know if anyone else had this. I have heard it both with and without the earbuds BTW...


it's the sidekick man. my boy has a sidekick and i had the echo problem too.

[pathogen]

I've had it on random calls on every tmo I had. Thats why I went to At&t. but unfortunately they didn't have the g1 so I'm back.

[Igashu]

fuelafire, glad to know somebody else is having the exact same issue (also east coast) -- just out of curiosity, have you noticed whether or not it occurs on calls to landlines vs calls to other mobile phones? Also, does it occur for you on incoming calls or only on outgoing calls?

For me, anyway, it seems to only happen on outgoing calls to land lines. I notice it when I call my parents, or when I call restaurants to order food, or (oh, the irony) when I call T-Mobile to complain about the echo on my phone. :P

The problem goes away entirely when I switch off the 3G radio, so I've been keeping it switched off for the most part, unless I need speedy downloads. Not optimal, by a long shot, but from the searching I've done, it may just be a general 3G thing, and not at all a hardware specific issue with this phone.

[lyfoster99]

I am in the Boston area and am having the same problem (an echo on most calls). I exchanged my phone for a new G1 thinking there was something wrong with it, but the new one is doing the same thing.

Last night I called my friend, had echo, hung up called back, still had echo hung and she called me back and the echo was gone. That could have ben a coincidence, I have to try it a few more times, but it may only be on outgoing calls. It has happend when I have called both landlines and other cells.

This is very frustrating. I only went with T-mo for the G1 and I am past my 14 days to cancel. If I have to get another pohone, I want to dump T-mo and go get a Storm through Verizon. Has anyone had luck getting out of contract due to this echo problem- past the 14 days w/o term fee?

[Steez3]

I'm experiencing some issues like this with my G1 also...I dunno if I would describe it as a echo though...almost every person I have spoken to with my phone says it sounds like im "talking through a tube" or im standing far away from the phone, thats with me holding the phone up to my ear....Now if I hold the phone straigh out with the mic right by my mouth they can hear me perfectly.....Very Weird...I just tried changing the option to only use 2g and it seemed to help some.

I called customer care and explained whats going on with my phone and she suggested that I go into a t-mobile store and let them do a "hard Reset" on my phone, but I really dont see how that would make a difference but then again I know next to nothing about cell phones. Then she said it could also be my SIM card causing the problem since I had a blackberry before my G1 and am using the same SIM card. Neither of these sounds logical to me...Has anyone else contacted customer care about this and told you anything they told me??

[kdmytro]

that's NSA wiretapping :cool:

[CJ Chitwood]

I'm experiencing some issues like this with my G1 also...I dunno if I would describe it as a echo though...almost every person I have spoken to with my phone says it sounds like im "talking through a tube" or im standing far away from the phone, thats with me holding the phone up to my ear....Now if I hold the phone straigh out with the mic right by my mouth they can hear me perfectly.....Very Weird...I just tried changing the option to only use 2g and it seemed to help some.

I called customer care and explained whats going on with my phone and she suggested that I go into a t-mobile store and let them do a "hard Reset" on my phone, but I really dont see how that would make a difference but then again I know next to nothing about cell phones. Then she said it could also be my SIM card causing the problem since I had a blackberry before my G1 and am using the same SIM card. Neither of these sounds logical to me...Has anyone else contacted customer care about this and told you anything they told me??

There is absolutely no reason whatsoever why a sim card should have any effect whatsoever on voice quality. It's an identifier for all intents and purposes.

They may just be saying that so they have something to tell the customer, even if it's wrong. At least that way most people (who are ignorant to the technical workings of devices like these, at least) would be satisfied that there was an answer. There may be something to SIM cards and voice quality, but I don't see how. It would surprise me if they do nothing but swap the SIM out and the problem go away. It would not surprise me for them to do a SIM swap, a factory reset, open the keyboard and tap it a few times, and do something with the cell network settings all at the same time and suddenly call quality be better. BUT, just because they SAY it was the SIM, whoever brought that phone in would swear that's what solved the problem even though it would clearly have been either the factory reset or the network settings.

[Steez3]

well I had enough of this problem and contacted tmobile again after I tried a master reset and the problem is still going on, I wanted to exchange my phone but since I dont live in a area where they sell the phones in the t-mobile stores they are telling me that I have to send my phone in first then they will send me one after they recieve mine only because im still in the 14 day grace period....I dont want to do this, but they also said if I wait till after the 14 day period they can send me a replacement phone first then I send back my damaged phone in the same box that my new phone came in.....which is what I did when my previous phone broke.......Dont understand why I have to wait over 14 days for them to do this for me........soo stupid

[airinnajera]

no issues with call quality...its been really good actually, loud, clear, no static, hiccups, echoes...i dont know whats up with you guys but i have 0 problems...

[CJ Chitwood]

[...] they are telling me that I have to send my phone in first then they will send me one after they recieve mine only because im still in the 14 day grace period....I dont want to do this, but they also said if I wait till after the 14 day period they can send me a replacement phone first [...] Dont understand why I have to wait over 14 days for them to do this for me........soo stupid

It's probably something in legalities or policies regarding the buyer's remorse period. There are probably different stipulations -- or maybe implications is a better word -- involved with the buyer's remorse period because it implies a brand new device was not as advertised whereas afterward you're accepting that the phone is as advertised but is simply defective somehow. I guess, I really don't know. There may be also something to prevent people from doing something like trying to hack the phone and instead bricking it as soon as they get it. By making you wait the 14 days, maybe you're less likely to try that. Again, dunno. Just guessing here.