Nokia 6385 CDMA Issues

I've found the same with mine- But then I've also found the signal strength displayed isnt always an indication of how a call will go.
Cruising from NW WA to the SW, the most part of the trip my phone (CDMA) was showing "Searching for coverage" whilst my mates GSM had one or 2 bars signal. When I needed to make a call though, it came good and had no problems.

CDMA without a doubt has improved range in the bush. I work at a few mine sites that are 100km from the nearest country road, and GSM is non existent. CDMA however works perfectly.

I also recall seeing full signal strength last time I was in the suburbs of Perth, and now even with the car kit and external aerial I dont get full strength, but calls are fine and in all the time I've had CDMAs, I only recall 1 call being dropped.

I live in Ashgrove about 5km's out of Brisbane CBD and only get 2 bars on my 6225. You wouldnt know unless you look as the signal quality is still excellent.

I just purchased an external antenna and coupler to hook onto the phone. Keen to see how it goes around town and as we head out to camerons corner over easter

The Nokia 6385 has an external antena port.
Grab a 7dba external antena and hook it up, worked wonders for mine.
You will also need a patch lead from the phone to the antena cable.
I was pulling in full signals while others nearby were getting nothing.

Regards

Hi jrw

I recently got a Nokia 6225 CDMA phone and have noticed that the signal strength and call quality are much the same in the city as away from it.

The big difference is that GSM just falls away when you leave town but the CDMA lasts quite a bit longer.

Muddy

As said dont worry too much what the screen says. Ive had good coverage up to 200 miles out to sea at various times, and coverage has ALWAYS been better than GSM. Ive had an LG(crap) and Kyocera (endless probs) Nokia 6385 has had probs too and not up to their previous "best phone" standard but it was their first CDMA.
Electronics bloke tells me that with an external aerial on a CDMA or GSM, if the cable is more than a couple of meters long, you could attach the Eiffel Tower to the end of it and it wouldnt make any difference as the transmitting power of less than a watt will only go that far up it

I live in Broken Hill and have a 6385. The car kit makes a huge difference. There are still a few places around where we run out of coverage but generally it is excellent. I run an 8db dual band antennae for the wifes GSM as well but in a single band I know of people running 12db. Go the biggest number you can get.

Duncs

I have an old LG cdma. About 5 years old now. Always prefer it to gsm.

Doesn't often show full signal, but it did surpirse me when out near Quilpie and I had a phone call 94k out of town (as the crow flies) on 2 out of 7 bars. GSM only has a range of about 37k due to the signal carrier.

Found the same thing around the city when in basements etc. Not full reception but works well on lower signals.