♦ got 2 refurbished K 1 from Amazon and Whispernet not working ♦

[quique]

Hi everybody,

I'm new to the forum. I was looking for specific posts on this issues but haven't come across to anybody having the exact same issue, so I thought I would ask openly.

I just got my wife a Kindle 1 (refurbished) although it looks brand new, all plastic wrapped in the box...
The reason I got the 1st gen. is because I read reviews and many people liked a lot 1st generation, and also I got a good price at Amazon ($149) so I though I would give it a shot.

The thing is that every time I switch on the wireless it shows no bars and "?", and the unit freezes up 90% of the time after a few seconds, and I have to open and hard-reset it to start it up again. Other times it will display all bars after few minutes and freeze up straight away.

If you wonder about coverage: we live in the middle of the Silicon Valley in San Jose, Orange coverage zone, according to Sprint map, and full bars for all mobile operators, so that should not be an issue.

I called CS and they have sent me another unit. This one shows bars more often but still freezes up (?).

I have gone outside walking around and even been driving all around the city, and both units keep freezing, although RANDOMLY sometimes they get 3 to 5 bars. Can't figure out what triggers that.

I wasn't even able to register any of the two. First unit always freezes up almost straight away. The second eventually shows full bars (after a minute or more) but I always get the error "cannot connect" if the unit does not freeze right away.

Today while driving around one of them looked like it got registered but them froze up straight away as I noticed it after hard reset, as it was showing up my name on the screen and a welcome message. On that unit, I got to the point of selecting "Experimental" and "Basic Web", but when it displays the bookmarks and I select any of them, it either tells me "unable to connect" or it will freeze up again!

I think I'm going crazy...Has anybody experienced this? Could it be they sent me two BAD units? I was hoping the units would connect right away after a few seconds when you turn on the wireless. Is that true? In my case, none of them manages to connect properly.

When I switch on wireless, the first shows no bars and "?" (although sometimes it does and then it crashes)... and the second one eventually (after minutes) shows full bars, but then crashes when I try connecting to the internet (in an effort to check that Whispernet is working at all).

Has anybody got a refurb. K 1 and experienced similar issues?

It would be great if somebody living in San Jose CA could tell me if they experience any issues with Whispernet? coverage map shows 100% orange though.

Thanking you in advance!
Enrique

[LauraB]

Do you have books on it? I had this problem with my kindle 1 a few times and it always turned out to be corrupt books, unfortunately all were from feedbooks. But do a search for something, I usually just search for "kindle" and see if it shows a title not searchable yet. If it has been on there long enough that you think it should be searchable (even something not feedbooks) delete the book. Reset your kindle. Do all this before you turn whispernet on, then turn whispernet on. You could also just do a factory reset and see if that works, but that won't tell you which book, if it is one, causing the problem.  I called Amazon kindle support I don't know how many times and got 3 new kindles in the 1st 30 days before I thought of this, and it has always worked for me.  Good luck !

[Ann in Arlington]

Make sure you have a full charge.  Sounds like a "duh" but the wireless, especially on the K1, really sucks down the juice.  I might even leave it plugged in while trying it, if possible.

When you switch on wireless, it will likely take a minute or two for the bars to show. . . .

Once showing, try to do something.  I would NOT recommend the web browser, but you shouldn't have any trouble accessing the Kindle Store or doing "Sync and check for items" to d/l books.  (I've had my K1 for 18 months and the only times it has ever frozen up is when I was trying to use the browser.)  Of course, you also shouldn't have a problem registering it, but, if necessary, you can do that via your computer too.

If nothing works, then, yes, I'd contact Kindle CS again (not Amazon CS) and explain the problem.  There is sometimes a process they can walk you through which will sort of reset the wireless phone connection.

Also note, that it's not a particularly strong phone. . . .if your house is well built, it may very well be that it can't get a signal inside, especially downstairs.  One of the improvements to the K2 was, I believe, a better 'phone'.

And finally, it is possible you got two units that are both defective. . . .it happens.

Good luck!

[drenee]

Kindle CS 866-321-8851.

[quique]

Thanks everybody for the quick response.

I actually forgot to mention that first thing I did right out of the box was to fully charge them.

We live in an apartment on 2nd floor facing north on a very wide open area towards the San Francisco bay area and I always get full bars on all mobile devices (including the both Kindles when they fancy showing the bars at all).

I'm not too sure about the books thing it was mentioned on the responses.

It turns out that on one onf the Kindles I downloaded myself a couple of public domain books using Calibre (as I could not connect at all) so my wife could read something on the meantime...

On the 2nd unit I got, I haven't downloaded anything yet, and this is the one that goes further connect-wise, displaying full bars and even showing the Bookmarks menu, but nothing usually happens (Unable to connect) or it freezes right away...

I'll definitely call CS today.

Thank all of you for your help and elaborate explanations!

[kahli6]

I got my daughter one of those refurbs and had the same issue.  When I called Kindle Support, they took the serial number and it had never been registered at all so it wouldn't connect.  they did some magic and it works great now.

I hope that is the only issue with yours, but it sounds like the same thing-- I was in a panic but CS set it up in a couple of minutes and she's been reading on it for months with no more problems.

(my first post here!)
vicki

[quique]

Thanks Vicki,
while I was walking around the street to check for coverage and waiting for the unit to display bar signals on the wireless, both Kindles got registered, but then again they froze up. Now both are registered but I haven't been able to check if the wireless works at all, since everytime
I got to the Experimental / Basic Web thing it tells me "unable to connect"...
I have an iphone with a Tmobile slow Edge internet over GSM and works like a charm at ~200kbps (slow) with only 1/2 bars signal. According to Sprint coverage maps I should be able to connect full speed, so I'm suspecting both devices wireless are broken.

When you guys turn on the wireless and try to go onto any web (i.e. Google, Amazon, Wikipedia..) how fast does that happen for you?
I know it might be slow and won't show in full detail becasue of Kindle limitations, but I just want to get an idea of what to expect if it worked properly!

Thanks a lot for your feedback!
Enrique

[sebat]

When I had a K1, every single time I tried to go to the web it froze up.  The web browser on the K1 is experimental.  I wouldn't consider that a accurate gauge of whether your K1 works or not.   Have you tried to download a book or a sample?  You should be able to download books without a problem.  It does take a bit for it to connect though.

[AferVentus]

Yes, I purchased a kindle 1 refurb for my mother, and she just opened it yesterday.  We did a software update from 1.0.8 to 1.2.  The wireless just does not work.  We always get a "signal" but no bars.  When we do get bars, it freezes when we try to enter the kindle store or it says you cannot connect at this time.

Called tech support, they had me doing the same things for one hour.  The 611 thing showed that we should have it work, but it won't. 

We are kind of disappointed that this is not working!

[Ann in Arlington]

Sorry about your problems.  If you purchased from Amazon, even refurbished, you definitely want to contact Kindle Customer Support and have them send you a new one.  It's got a 1 year warranty and they shouldn't give you any trouble about it.  Try the "call me back" option on the Kindle support page.

[Betsy the Quilter]

When you guys turn on the wireless and try to go onto any web (i.e. Google, Amazon, Wikipedia..) how fast does that happen for you?
I know it might be slow and won't show in full detail becasue of Kindle limitations, but I just want to get an idea of what to expect if it worked properly!

Enrique, the best way to test Whispernet is to try to to to the Kindle store on your K1.  From the home page, click on Menu, then click on "Shop in Kindle Store."  You will either get to the Kindle Store, with its list of book categories, or an "Unable to Connect" dialog box.  The web browser is, as has been said, experimental in nature.  Some get it to work, most often for me with my K1, the Kindle locks up.

Betsy

[Betsy the Quilter]

Yes, I purchased a kindle 1 refurb for my mother, and she just opened it yesterday.  We did a software update from 1.0.8 to 1.2.  The wireless just does not work.  We always get a "signal" but no bars.  When we do get bars, it freezes when we try to enter the kindle store or it says you cannot connect at this time.

Called tech support, they had me doing the same things for one hour.  The 611 thing showed that we should have it work, but it won't. 

We are kind of disappointed that this is not working!

AferVentus, welcome to KB.  Sorry your mom's Kindle is not working as expected!  Have you asked Kindle CS to send you a different K1?  It should have the same warranty as a new K.

Betsy