Check the indicator icons for information on your connection.
A Motorola cell phone has several types of GPRS (General Packet Radio Signal) indicators at the top of the phone. These indicators stand for a couple different things related to your Internet service connection. There are two icons on either side that also relate to the GPRS indicator. One is the signal strength, while the other tells you if data is being transferred.
Locating the Indicator Bar
Turn your Motorola cell phone on by holding the power key for three seconds. Wait for the start up screen to boot and load the phone until you see the home screen. Look at the top bar line on the home screen of the phone. The first icon at the top left side is the signal strength. There will be a small tower icon with between zero to five bars. The larger the number of bars, the better connection you have on your cell phone. If there is an "X" next to the tower or if there are no bars present, then the phone will not be able to make any calls or use the GPRS connection. Look at the second icon on the left hand side of the screen next to the signal strength. This is where the GPRS indicator is located.
Different GPRS indicators
The most common indicator is the one showing the phone is using the GPRS connection. This is when the phone is transmitting Internet-based information between cell towers. This first icon looks like a horizontal rectangle with an icon that looks like a house on the top right corner and bottom left corner. The bottom house icon will be upside down.
The second icon is called a GPRS PDP context active icon. It will look like a square with a smaller blackened square in the bottom left corner with three lines coming out from it. This comes up when the connection is available but not yet to the point of transferring information. PDP stands for Packet Data Protocol. This controls several set parameters that have to be met in order for a connection to be established and allow information to be transferred. Once the connection has been established, such as the IP address through the APN (access point name), this icon will appear, and then once the information starts to be transferred it will change to the previous icon.
The third icon is called GPRS data available. It will look like three rectangles overlapping in a diagonal line. This will show when a connection has been found and is live, but is not currently transferring any information.
Supporting GPRS indicators
The third icon from the left of the phone is considered a supporting icon for the GPRS indicator and is used to define whether your connection is secure. If your phone is indicating that you have any type of non-secure connection or transfer, you may want to wait to send a file if it has any sensitive information.
The first one will have the GPRS data available icon with a lock symbol beside it. This indicates it has a secure data transfer. The opposite symbol, indicating an non-secure data transfer, is two arrows lined up horizontally in opposite directions with an open square in the middle.
The second icon is a square with a lock and an arrow pointing to the right. This means a secure connection is available. The opposite of this icon, indicating an non-secure data connection, is a square with an opened lock icon and arrow to the right. This icon will be light in color, while the secure-connection icon will be filled in black.
The third icon is a closed rectangle with arrows on either side running in opposite directions. This will mean there is a secure CSD (circuit switch data) call. The CSD is considered secure because the cell provider will encrypt the data being transmitted between towers. The opposite will be the same symbol but will be open with a space down the middle. This will indicate the CSD call is non-secure. This generally is more common when on a roaming network.
Tags: icon will, cell phone, GPRS indicator, second icon, signal strength