I agree with the folk mentioning the 2G scenario. If you are on 3 or 3.5G then I think you should be okay with receiving and making a call etc. But if you are travelling and your 3G drops to 2G in certain areas due to poor reception then that could be the problem as perhaps the fault lies within the device itself of not being able to disconnect the Edge/Gprs connection for incomming calls etc.
I hope this issue is addressed in the next PR update.

Pigro, Have you had any issues whilst connected on a 2G connection? Maybe you should put it to the test so that way we could see if it really is a fault with network or the device, that is if you have the time to do so :-)

all my tests above were done whilst on a 2G connection
... would be nice if another Voda UK user were to confirm this though just to ensure that my tests are 100% valid (for example, I'm trusting the display when it shows a 2G connection, I haven't actively forced the phone into 2G only mode). it would be strange if only Voda are offer such a compelling feature (and even stranger if true that they haven't noticed & started boasting about/charging for it)?

I've occasionally suffered from the phone module of the tablet dying while out and about & doing a lot of browsing (though can't say if that was 2G specific) - i.e. people were calling/texting me and I didn't know about it. Phone stays unresponsive once in this state (and the signal bars & 2G/3G indicator dissapear entirely from the status bar) until a reboot, when the texts then come through. I suppose this may be related, but it's only happened to me twice in 3 months (and I'm out and about with n900 a lot, permanently connected via public WiFi or GPRS, and using data quite frequently).

I too have this problem. I can also state definitively that this is not a network-side error.

My wife and I live in MA, USA and use the AT&T mobile network. We have used the N95-1 (no US 3G), N82 (no US 3G), N97 (3.5G), and 5800xm (3.5G) from this location in the past 1 month.

All of these phones are capable of receiving calls while connected (or in processing of connecting) to the AT&T APN wap.cingular (note: this APN is used for all IP communications, despite it erferring to WAP and also it retaining hte name of the network at&t bought a few years back, it is the current and applicable full-network connectivity APN I always use, and even supports IPSEC VPN tunneling).

The N900 however is not capable of receiving calls while connected to this APN. Every incoming call is sent directly to voicemail. This appears to be distinctly a device-side fault and I am quite confused by other people reporting that they do not have this symptom.

Moreover, there has been at least one report in this forum appearing to claim that simultaneous voice and data was possible on a 2G network - not just that the data connection was dropped or suspended properly, but that simultaneous voice and data was possible. This, to the best of my understanding, is technically impossible and leads me to believe that we are not all testing for this problem in the same, reproducible and accurate, manner.

So, to the OP, I feel your pain. I have essentially disabled my packet data entirely, because though I hardly use my phone(s) for voice calls I know that it frustrates the crap out of my family when they try to call me and it goes persistently straight to voicemail.

I have opened a bug tracker for this issue. If you experience this problem and want it fixed, vote for it here:
GPRS/EDGE data connection prohibits incoming voice calls

This problem (maybe a bug) is definitely not "REPRODUCIBILITY:
always; no exceptions" as the bug-report suggests.

I'm using 2.5G these days since 3G drains my battery (in about 6 hours), while 2.5G goes for about 24 hours.

i'm using skype, jabber, and msn, and i'm constantly connected to 2.5G.
when i have an incoming call the phone rings, and the data-connection icon in the status bar is changed (marked with a red crossing line over).
when the call ends, data connection resumes..

this of course doesn't happen when i'm connected to 3G then the data connection remains.

my cellphone operator is Cellcom / Israel.

I'm definately seeing this issue and now understand why some people called me and said my phone was off/busy when I definatelly have full battery + signal.

Thanks for reporting!

Mine doesn't receive calls whilst watching video but no one seemed to care.

http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=45834

My N900 got a bad reputation among my friends & family when I first got it because they were always going straight to answerphone.

Nowadays I'm "offline as it happens" all day (because of crap battery life) so I don't have this problem so much!

Correction - 2.5G allows voice + data.

But again, if we discuss the RECEPTION of voice call while on data - that is a PROVIDER issue. It can temporary disconnect 2G data to call your phone. And I am not surprised if provider does it only for specific phone models (for exam - doesn't like N900), just to avoid some issues with traffic interruption.

1. Get those massive battery replacement
2. You can avoid the bug by leaving your phone at Desktop as I can only reproduce it when it's browsing some webpage.