Pro1x - really poor connectivity to both wifi and cellular.

[PoongZY 15]

And as usual nothing about the fix related info on monthly updates.

[PoongZY 15]

17 hours ago, DieBruine said:

Same here. Even worse, I also have a 'brand new' QX1000 lying next to it.

Are there any forum members involved in beta-testing? If so, is there like a NDA or something. I find it curious that there is no mention of imporvements nor are there any updates on the progress. I ask because jjoining Telegram would require me to buy another prepaid. Not a problem if I had some more positive feedback of it being o any help...

I tot QX1000 doesn't have any issue?

[DieBruine 397]

Not sure what you mean. Compared to the QX1050 the QX1000 has no issues.
QX1000 came back from repair, wasn't used but had a fault. But by the time I got it back, the QX1050 was supposedly on its way. Now I have both. The only reason I bought the QX1050 was because of its better camera.
In the Netherlands, the QX1050 suffers from intermittent connectivity. It is unreliable. I don't need a phone that doesn't phone...

[Rob. S. 1,664]

I wonder whether there may be differences between samples... Unfortunately, I cannot check right now, as I sold my first Pro1X soon after I got another one from the batch sold by Expansys, now that I've come to the conclusion that even with all those umlauts in my language I prefer a US keyboard layout...

But while I did have the impression that the first sample was quite usable at least with the 'LTE DIscovery' app active in 'No-LTE cycle' mode, that isn't the case anymore with the second device. Phone calls drop out after a few words or even before the other end takes the call, LTE internet is unusable most of the time. Looking at the 'LTE Discovery' log, I also see much more reconnections than I used to, and bands changed between 1, 3, 20 and 28 over the last few days, and there are frequent reconnections even while staying within the same band.

Then again, the Vodafone signal as such seems to have worsened at my address.

Whatever it is, as of now, I can use my Pro1X for either calls or mobile internet only while either being within WiFi coverage or carrying my mobile LTE router, with voice over WiFi activated on the phone.

Edited April 17, 2023 by Rob. S.

[PoongZY 15]

13 hours ago, DieBruine said:

Not sure what you mean. Compared to the QX1050 the QX1000 has no issues.
QX1000 came back from repair, wasn't used but had a fault. But by the time I got it back, the QX1050 was supposedly on its way. Now I have both. The only reason I bought the QX1050 was because of its better camera.
In the Netherlands, the QX1050 suffers from intermittent connectivity. It is unreliable. I don't need a phone that doesn't phone...

oh.. i assume qx1000 a.k.a pro1 doesn't have any network issues

 

[DieBruine 397]

Nope, I've used the previous one daily for 20 months. Installed Los yesterday. Cold GPS fix seems to be an issue. But apart from that, still like brand new and good connectivity. QX1000.

PRO1X remains in its box.

Edited April 18, 2023 by DieBruine

[claude0001 1,352]

19 hours ago, PoongZY said:

And as usual nothing about the fix related info on monthly updates.

Forget it. People from all over the world have been reporting those network problems for 8 months now. At one point @Casey even acknowledged that this is one of the most reported issues. Still, they haven't come up with even a glimpse of a solution.

I think the two most likely explanations are: 1) Something is systematically wrong with the qx1050's RF hardware, causing it to fail in many regions/networks. 2) There are a lot of defective devices around, as @Rob. S. suggests. Either way, f(x)tec will not have the (financial) means to fix all those devices. All they can do is keep affected customers in the "wait-for-the-next-OTA"-loop until their warranty runs out.

I advise you to just box your device, and either sell it or try to forget about it. I do not think the Pro1-X will ever be useful as a mobile phone. Keeping your hopes up will just perpetuate your disappointment.

Like @DieBruine, I can confirm that the qx1000 -- while far from being a flawless device -- does not have the qx1050's mobile network issues. If you think you really need a keyboard phone, try to get a used qx1000 while they are still around.

Edited April 18, 2023 by claude0001

[Hook 3,043]

5 hours ago, claude0001 said:

I advise you to just box your device, and either sell it or try to forget about it. I do not think the Pro1-X will ever be useful as a mobile phone.

I understand frustration over the phone not working for many people, but don't quite get these two choices being the only ones.  Sure, if you wanted the phone to work, try and sell it and get your money back.  But box it and forget about it?

All of us invested in a keyboard phone.  Presumably, people didn't need a full slide out keyboard to make phone calls.  So people, like me, had needs and uses in mind that made a physical keyboard far more ideal than an on-screen keyboard.  What we ended up with, in my opinion, is a pocket computer with one of the finest keyboards I have ever used on thumb board sized device. I actually like it better than my QX1000-- better keyboard, better build quality. Sure, people want to carry only one device, but are you so outraged that you are going to confine yourself to an on-screen keyboard and ignore that you have a powerful keyboard pocket computer?   I understand that you, like I, have a choice, since you have the Pro 1 as well.  But to tell someone else who doesn't have that choice to just ignore their Pro1x seems crazy. 

Then again, I decided long ago to carry two devices because the Pro1 was far from perfect, even more so in it's early days. 😉 

[claude0001 1,352]

1 hour ago, Hook said:

I actually like it better than my QX1000-- better keyboard, better build quality. Sure, people want to carry only one device, but are you so outraged that you are going to confine yourself to an on-screen keyboard and ignore that you have a powerful keyboard pocket computer?   I understand that you, like I, have a choice, since you have the Pro 1 as well.  But to tell someone else who doesn't have that choice to just ignore their Pro1x seems crazy.

I agree that the Pro1-X's keyboard is better than the Pro1's.

But, yes, for me the whole point with the Pro1/Pro1-X is to carry around only the one device I need anyway - my phone. A single device that works as a normal Android slab most of the time but can transform into an UMPC if I urgently need to get some stuff done while away from a real workstation. If I were to settle for carrying two pocket-sized devices all the time, I'd probably choose something else than a Pro1/X as the "computer". I think there are far more capable miniature laptops.

But, honestly, I think this discussion is leading us off-topic. Let's not forget that both of us have very special use-cases. Most people who purchase a Pro1/X don't want to do "real" computing on the device. They expect to do their typical "phone-stuff" - texting and social media - just with the added advantage of the HW keyboard. A reliable connection, especially when on-the-go, is an obvious and hard requirement for them, and I think they'd rather perceive the idea of mobile connectivity being something "optional" as crazy ...

Edited April 18, 2023 by claude0001

[Hook 3,043]

42 minutes ago, claude0001 said:

Most people who purchase a Pro1/X don't want to do "real" computing on the device. They expect to do their typical "phone-stuff" - texting and social media - just with the added advantage of the HW keyboard.

You may be right, but that would surprise me.  I would think if that were the case, messenger phones would be much more available from the big companies.  Most of that audience out there look at me like I'm either nuts, eccentric, quaint or Grandad,,, sometime all of the above...  whenever I snap out my keyboard (rarely ever use either my Pro1 pr Pro1x without the keyboard). They are somewhat mystified by how good my internet is, but they don't see the cheap moto on Verizon in my other pocket serving a secure WPA2 connection. 😉

[EskeRahn 5,471]

6 hours ago, claude0001 said:

But, honestly, I think this discussion is leading us off-topic. Let's not forget that both of us have very special use-cases. Most people who purchase a Pro1/X don't want to do "real" computing on the device. They expect to do their typical "phone-stuff" - texting and social media - just with the added advantage of the HW keyboard.

I think this is spot on.
But just like we don really know how large a portion that are affected (could be anywhere from almost everyone to almost no-one), similar we do not know who the 'average buyer is', we are just guessing. I have the same guess as you here though. But Hook might be a typical user... I really do not know.

On the issues of this thread we know that it is seen it multiple environments, but as said earlier as some do not see them, the big question is if they are just lucky, or the one reporting just unlucky. Since FxTec said previously that they were unable to reproduce it, this must mean that SOMETJING special has to be the issue. It could be batches of devices if hardware, or it could be some things in the networks that are different, maybe even on the same band.
It could be that one carrier use brand X in one place and Y in another, and it it for (what ever reason) do not work with both.
Or it can be (even) more complex and related to handing over the device from one cell tower to another and/or different frequency, and even here brands can make a difference.... 

I really hope that some of you with the problem can supply them with suitable logs, and they by that are able to nail what is going on. Until they are able to see what goes wrong, the chance of them fixing anything by pure guess-work is between slim and none.

The optimal thing would be to have several  logs from one working and another not working next to each other on same carrier (and band-selection) and then they could search for differences in the logs.

[EskeRahn 5,471]

42 minutes ago, steff said:

All the options an speculations are discussed here for several month now. It is not going forward in any way and that is the real interesting part of it. That is the reason why i just put my pro1x back in the box and went back to my previous device. I am personally judging everyone on their actions and not on their words. Not doing anything or achieving any progress is what i see while the weeks months and years go by.

Unfortunately I have to agree, and as some suggested it might be needed for FxTec to send someone abroad to (try to?) reproduce it, if either they do not get useful logs, or these do not give any clues they can use.

In some odd way it would have been nice If I had had the problems here, and could try all kind of weird stuff.

[Rob. S. 1,664]

Please don't mistake the following for an attempt to whitewash this faulty device, that's not my intention.

Just if someone didn't catch it, and please excuse if someone might get the impression of a prayer mill by now 😉, but as faulty as my current Pro1X is and as unusable both internet and call connections mostly are (if there even are any), I'm still using it as a daily driver with little complaints, day by day, at home, at work, in my car, waking me in the morning, taking calls, surfing the net, messaging, writing forum posts, shooting pics, unloading my 'real' camera and transferring images to my home's fileserver via my own Nextcloud instance, playing music from my music selection or listening to web radio through headphones or car stereo, some of this and that, and last but not least doing Linux server maintenance via SSH, although thankfully the need doesn't come up too often these days, but it's still one of the most important applications which make me want a physical keyboard. 

All of that works not because I would carry a second phone, but a small, light and cheap mobile LTE router (TP-Link M7350 in my case). It works for both data (very well) and voice calls (not the best sound quality, but ok), incoming and outgoing, as long as the phone's SIM card supports Wifi Calling/Voice over Wifi. I think there even are power banks which include an LTE router, which would remove the necessity to carry an additional device at least for occasions in which I'd carry a powerbank anyway. 

The only thing that sometimes bugs me (I think I've seen one or two reports of this around here already) is that it suddenly freezes, with a very-long-power-button-press needed to reboot, or reboots by itself, at irregular intervals. Can take a few days, can be once or twice a day. Thankfully, until now I've not overslept because of it. 😉 

20 hours ago, EskeRahn said:

The optimal thing would be to have several  logs from one working and another not working next to each other on same carrier (and band-selection)

If I still get my order for September 2019 one day, I'll see what I can do...

Edited April 19, 2023 by Rob. S.

[claude0001 1,352]

37 minutes ago, Rob. S. said:

Please don't mistake the following for an attempt to whitewash this faulty device, that's not my intention.

No offence, but, in your report, you are doing precisely that: whitewash a faulty device.

Your LTE-router workaround is technically interesting, but it doesn't mitigate the Pro1-X's failure as a mobile phone.

[EskeRahn 5,471]

6 minutes ago, claude0001 said:

No offence, but, in your report, you are doing precisely that: whitewash a faulty device.

Your LTE-router workaround is technically interesting, but it doesn't mitigate the Pro1-X's failure as a mobile phone.

At that raises the question if it is more interesting to know that there are issue, or to hear about possible workarounds?

And that is NOT saying that a workaround is a solution. But I will claim that what ever workaround that make things useful for a user, is better than just storing it in a drawer. Waiting for a fix.

Our complaining about things not working in a user-to-user forum, are hardly speeding any solution at all. At best it can tell others with similar issues, that it is not a fault specific to their device alone.

[Rob. S. 1,664]

1 hour ago, claude0001 said:

No offence, but, in your report, you are doing precisely that: whitewash a faulty device.

Your LTE-router workaround is technically interesting, but it doesn't mitigate the Pro1-X's failure as a mobile phone.

As I know that perfectly well and do not claim it would, either, your accusation is factually false.

What I'm doing is describing a potential workaround, to make, with the help of an external device, this faulty thing function as a mobile phone, something it cannot do by itself, and something I don't claim it could do by itself.

Blame the device for not functioning as it should and blame the manufacturer for not seeing to it that it does, but don't blame someone for describing a workaround that actually makes it work, given some necessary preconditions.

Edited April 19, 2023 by Rob. S.

[Rob. S. 1,664]

3 minutes ago, steff said:

For some people it is the right way to try a workaround, but for some others it is better to sell it or store it in  a drawer, as you said. [...] For me it is just better to end the drama and this device is just not important to me anymore. [...]

Just to make this clear, I find that a perfectly valid position, and I'm not trying to persuade anyone into anything.

[Hook 3,043]

Without doing much setup, after flashing Lineage 20, still on Band 4 and LTE calls are still working. 

[Tim6263 134]

On 4/19/2023 at 8:40 PM, Rob. S. said:

mobile LTE router

Can I ask please - do you have a SIM in your Pro1x? Or only in the router? Your solution seems, for now, to be the only thing remotely workable. Over on Telegram, a few brave souls have taken to drilling the metal case & attaching external antenna; which in one way seems to be what your router is.  Like others here, right now, my Pro1x languishes unused because it is too unreliable; & worse, there seems precious little imminent hope of it ever becoming so, before the tech becomes obsolete 😔

[Hook 3,043]

1 hour ago, Tim6263 said:

Can I ask please - do you have a SIM in your Pro1x? Or only in the router? Your solution seems, for now, to be the only thing remotely workable.

There is also my solution (developed for my Pro1, but I like it even though my Pro1x has okay connectivity),,, getting a cheap slab phone to use as a phone and hotspot.  Sure, a hotspot is smaller, but it isn't any cheaper than a  middle range moto slab on sale and I always have enough pockets.  And I get to keep using Verizon. I use my Pro1x 95% of the time, but I have a reliable Verizon phone when I need it and the cheap moto can take the wear and tear of taking  it in and out iof the dash mount in my Honda for Android Auto. 😉

[Rob. S. 1,664]

2 hours ago, Tim6263 said:

do you have a SIM in your Pro1x?

Yes, one in the Pro1X, and a second one in the mobile router. The second one is, in my case, a second SIM for the same mobile contract, but that isn't actually necessary for the setup to work. You do need a provider that supports voice over WiFi/Wifi Calling, though, obviously, and voice quality can still be bad, if the mobile router isn't really near the phone, but most of the time I'm happy with it and most importantly the internet connection is good.

[fxnoma 14]

So if I understand that correctly, even with the LineageOS 20 build, the connectivity is still all over the place, correct?

[Hook 3,043]

24 minutes ago, fxnoma said:

So if I understand that correctly, even with the LineageOS 20 build, the connectivity is still all over the place, correct?

Yes, from what I can  tell, Lineage doesn't improve connectivity from stock.  So my Pro1x does fine on T-Mobile on stock and does the same on Lineage. Others, who have had problems, have reported those same problems on Lineage. 

[claude0001 1,352]

27 minutes ago, fxnoma said:

So if I understand that correctly, even with the LineageOS 20 build, the connectivity is still all over the place, correct?

If the issues are software-related at all (which has not been proven), it is reasonable to assume that the bugs are in the drivers and/or their firmwares. Those bits are closed-source and cannot be fixed by LineageOS. They just re-use them 1:1 from stock.

[rlpowell 6]

I'm noticing that my Pro1X is having a lot more trouble staying connected to T-Mobile than my BB Key2 was.

In particular, I was in a place recently where it kept falling off the network; the icon would show "LTE" and about 1/3 full signal power, but also an X over the signal icon, so not actually on the internet.  It would work for a few minutes, then fail for a few minutes, then work again, over and over.  Rebooting seemed to consistently make it work for a few minutes.

I'm wondering if this is kind of expected or if I should open a support ticket with FxTec.