Database Users

Selecting a Tower?

On my Cingular 8125 I don't have the option to select which tower to connect to. I'd like to be able to select between Cingular Orange and Cingular Blue as Blue has a much better signal at my office. I was able to do this on my Motorolla v551 and it worked great.
But when I go to Settings --> Phone --> Network, there's only a "Find Network" button and I don't have the option to choose which network it actually connects to.
I know the Network tab has network selection features (they've displayed for me a couple times when I was on business travel roaming), they just seem to be hidden when I'm in my home calling area.
Any tips on a reg DWORD I can flip or something to enable network selection?

Unless you have a pre-2002 simcard you won't be able to select any network that isn't already added in the network list.

My friend has a 2125 with pretty much the exact same plan... signed up same time as me, got SIM card same time as me... why would he be able to select networks and not me?
I still think there's gotta be a software solution. :-/

I upgraded my 8125's ROM to the 2.17 version and now I have network select. Also I have a 3G sim card.

I'm on 2.17 as well, and I do NOT have these options! This is a real problem as I have no signal at home or work! I need to be able to select the old ATT tower in this area (which has perfect signal!!)
Someone block the SIM from doing this to us all please!

Phone Setttings Network

I am looking for a way to update the "Phone Settings Network" dialog on my new Advantage 7501 to include the features I have on my HP ipAQ 6945. On my iPAQ have options to do a Manual Network Selection where it will find all the available networks in range, not just the AT&T ones. Why is this important to me? Well I live in an area where the nearest Cingular/AT&T tower is over 15 miles away, however I am in what they call a "Partner" coverage area where I can connect to a Cellular One tower that is about 4 miles away. This way I can get 4 bars signal inside my home where if I can try to connect to the AT&T net using typical cell phones, I get 2 bars to none. Since both these devices are made by HTC there must be a way I can move the needed code off my iPAQ to the Advantage. The iPAQ with this manual net selection is the only phone I can use at home. I was hoping the Advantage would include a similar capability.
Can anyone point me the right direction?

daveheine said:
I am looking for a way to update the "Phone Settings Network" dialog on my new Advantage 7501 to include the features I have on my HP ipAQ 6945. On my iPAQ have options to do a Manual Network Selection where it will find all the available networks in range, not just the AT&T ones. Why is this important to me? Well I live in an area where the nearest Cingular/AT&T tower is over 15 miles away, however I am in what they call a "Partner" coverage area where I can connect to a Cellular One tower that is about 4 miles away. This way I can get 4 bars signal inside my home where if I can try to connect to the AT&T net using typical cell phones, I get 2 bars to none. Since both these devices are made by HTC there must be a way I can move the needed code off my iPAQ to the Advantage. The iPAQ with this manual net selection is the only phone I can use at home. I was hoping the Advantage would include a similar capability.
Can anyone point me the right direction?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Go to Start/setting/personal/phone, and go to the network tab. There you can manually select your preferred service provider.
Is this what you are looking for?

No, the display shows Current Network: AT&T and only a "Find Network" box. There is no option to look for anything else but AT&T. Maybe this is limitation arising from the AT&T SIM card I am using.
My iPAQ screen gives me a Network Selection box with "Automatic" and "Manual" options. If I select "Manual" and "Find Network" I get a list of all available cell towers within range, and then can pick one. Where I am I see "Cingular" and "Cell One DCS". I pick the Cellular One tower as it is a partner site and there are no roaming charges even thought the little roaming symbol ( a pyramid) shows up at the top.
I'll try switching SIM cards and see if that makes a difference. Well changing SIM cards made no difference except that it lists "Cingular" instead of "AT&T"

The Network Selection box with auto and manual options is there on my 7501 too. I didn't think that would be affected by your sim card.
Hey, just a thought -- did you switch to true VGA, and is the box just not showing up because of that?

I tried a Hard Reset and still do not get a network selection option. It may be due one of the CAB files that is run during the device setup that changes the US version. I'll try calling HTC Support.

Called HTC and was told that the AT&T SIM locks out the option to do a Network Selection. He tried a T-Mobile SIM in his Advantage and it came up with the Network Selection option. He "hinited" that I would have to do a CID unlock perhaps to get around AT&T's SIM restrictions, but couldn't tell me to do it would as it void the warranty.
I tried the HTC Network Wizard (Google for it) and it only allows you to set up your phone for a couple of possible providers.
We both agreed that I probably have files on my iPAQ 6945 that if I could identify them and transfer them to my Advantage I might get around this restriction.
He said he would contact AT&T and see if they have any way to get around this. What happens if you travel outside the US and try to use the phone on another network (huge roaming charges!!!) in an emergency?
I don't quite have the courage to try the CID unlocker on my brand new Advantage yet. Has anyone done this?

daveheine said:
Called HTC and was told that the AT&T SIM locks out the option to do a Network Selection. He tried a T-Mobile SIM in his Advantage and it came up with the Network Selection option. warranty.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ATT sims do LOCK that option. All other att phones like 8525, 8125, blackjack, etc are missing that option too.
daveheine said:
He "hinited" that I would have to do a CID unlock perhaps to get around AT&T's SIM restrictions, but couldn't tell me to do it would as it void the warrabty
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was under the impression that CiD unlock would fix that too but that's not true.
It's just that Some (Unofficial) Roms ignore that but most of official roms like yours dont.
daveheine said:
I tried the HTC Network Wizard (Google for it) and it only allows you to set up your phone for a couple of possible providers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Network wizard will not affect that option.
daveheine said:
We both agreed that I probably have files on my iPAQ 6945 that if I could identify them and transfer them to my Advantage I might get around this restriction.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
dont know what u mean.
daveheine said:
He said he would contact AT&T and see if they have any way to get around this. What happens if you travel outside the US and try to use the phone on another network (huge roaming charges!!!) in an emergency?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Att doesn't have this restriction on all the networks. This restriction is based on the country codes. Att has restriction on US, canada, and mexico.
So if you are not in those countries you will have that option available to you.
daveheine said:
I don't quite have the courage to try the CID unlocker on my brand new Advantage yet. Has anyone done this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dont because it wont help.
To be quite honest with you I dont know how you could do it on your previous phone because Att blocks that option on the network side. Even if you did change your network succesfuly on the phone, it'd still be rejected by the network.
The only thing that I can think of is that your Ipaq couldn't find a good ATT signal and connected to a patner's tower instead.
And your Advantage either gets a better gsm signal or gets a decent umts signal and connects to cingular 3g.
Try forcing the phone to operate only on the gsm network from under the band tab see if that makes a difference.
and also what is your zip code?
You can enable "Find Network" by changing the following registry key.
HKLM\Security\Phone\ManualDisable=0
That will display the network selection option and you wont void your warranty or anything like that.
It just goes away after a soft reset.
Check this thread here for more info on that.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=284201&highlight=manual+network+selection

Thanks for your response. The registry edit did indeed turn on the Network Selection. Going to Manual selection it finds "Cell One DCS" just like my iPAQ does, but when I select it I get the message "Cannot register on selected network. Choose another network, or disconnect your data connection and try again."
I have been connecting for over a year with my iPAQ to "Cell One DCS" with NO roaming charges. I guess AT&T doesn't want me to use the partner network. My ZIP is 76692 and I am located near the bridge over Lake Whitney.
There is obvious a difference in the software on the iPAQ and Advantage that is causing this to happen. I just checked the latest AT&T coverage maps and see they don't show a Partner coverage anymore.
I have installed an outside yagi antenna and signal repeater at my home so I do get a signal sometimes, but not a reliable signal.
We travel a lot so I still find AT&T coverage to be good in most places, and my iPAQ still works here now.

That's strange.
I got an ipaq 6915 from cingular and with cingular sims it pretty much does the same thing and disables network selection.
Do you have a custom rom on your 6945?
When you boot it up do you get the cingular logo?
Plus at your zip code it seems like you are far away from any cingular towers.
The only thing that I can think of is that your ipaq just doesn't find a good cingular signal, and connects to a different network.
When you do a network search on your ipaq does it actually detect Cingular as an available network? When you connect to cingular from your ipaq how many bars do you get?

I've always thought there nothing special about my 6945, but I guess there is! When I do a Network Selection on it I see both the Cingular tower AND the Cellular One tower signals. I have tried this in other locations and see several different networks (e.g., T-Mobile, and five digit numbers).
I've tried both my old Cingular SIM and a new AT&T SIM, and they both work the same in my iPaq 6945. Interesting!!! But neither will allow me to select the Cellular One tower on my new Advantage.
You are probably right about country codes for on recent cruise with stops in Grand Cayman and Cozumel the Advantage would show networks other than Cingular.
I am sorry I didn't reply earlier, but I was visiting family in Virginia this weekend. It was neat to see an "H" connection appear while sitting in DFW. Only get "E" connections out in the sticks where I live.
Dave

Oh, I should have mentioned that the 6945 is an unlocked phone from HP and is not customized for Cingular. As far as signal strength I have a cell repeater installed in my home so I get anywhere from no bars to 4 bars on that Cingular tower that is at least 15 miles away. My Cellular One is consistently 4 bars. I live in a steel framed home with a metal roof. Before I got the repeater I was using a booster amp and plugging an external antenna into my iPAQ and RAZR V3 to get a usable signal. This kept me tethered in my computer room (ugh!). When I got the 6945 and found I could manually select the Cellular One tower I then had a phone I could use throughout my home.
Several years ago I started with a simple Nokia phone before Cingular had a tower in the area, and always connected "Cingular Extend" which I now know was the near by Cellular One tower. As soon as Cingular put up their tower I have been unable to connect with the Nokia, Razr V3, and new Motorola V577.
Some of my neighbors have terminated their Cingular service because of this lack of connected to the so call "Partner" coverage.

o2 3g on a Exec?

Hello all,
I have a XDA Exec, running windows 6.1, with a 3g sim and 10gig data plan from o2 in Ireland. My problem is I get nothing more than a few kb a sec. Normally 1-2kb/s. I've logged a call with o2 but expect nothing more that a response of "Its due to the area you are in" But I have tried it all over. In Dublin, Kilkenny, Waterford and a lot of other areas and its always old style GSM speeds. So has anyone got any ideas as to what it might be? Maybe a setting on the phone? Dont have an other 3g handset to try sadly. This is really needed as I have moved down to Kilkenny now and have no net other than what is on the phone.
Thanks

forgot to say, I am using radio 1.15 if that matters

ok, after a bit of searching, I am after setting the band to Auto under the phone settings. But still only GSM access speeds. I will be in waterford a little later and will try access the net there to see if there is a difference. Any other thoughts as to what it can be?

sutty_monster said:
ok, after a bit of searching, I am after setting the band to Auto under the phone settings. But still only GSM access speeds. I will be in waterford a little later and will try access the net there to see if there is a difference. Any other thoughts as to what it can be?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hope this helps:
Go to Start/Settings/Connections
On your conection (Proxy settings) be sure that "This network connects to the Internet" is selected.
Go to Start/Settings/Personal and select "Band" and change "Select your Network Type" to WCDMA and then "Select your GSM/UMTS band" a GSM(1900+850)+UMTS(1900+850)
that´s it, next time you connect to internet, it has to connect to HSDPA (the connection icon should change to "H")

Turning of Roaming completely

Not sure if this is the correct forum but I want to be able to turn of roaming completely. I have a US G1 on the three UK network with the US RC33 installed and root. I have disabled data roaming. Here in the UK we're too small a country to want to roam! Coverage is usually good enough from a single network. However, I occasionally get the little 'R' symbol on the single strength icon and an annoying prompt saying I need to turn data roaming on because I lost connectivity. I have to go into the settings and manually select the "3" network again.
What I want is to either be connected to three UK or not connected to anything at all. Is there a config file I can edit to allow this? Would the UK RC8 firmware do this for me?
Thanks in advance for any help.

Doesn't a 3-UK SIM try to roam onto O2 though?
You could set the phone WCDMA only and NOT roam onto a GSM network.
Use AnyCut to shorcut Activity: Phone Info
From there under preferred Network Type; set to "WCDMA Only"

HELP!! Roaming signal won't go away
I have an unlocked G1, JF1.41 v 1.1 and i just updated to the RC33...but this also happened when i had RC30 , v 1.0...
I put in my canadian Fido sim card and everything works fine but i have that little "R" on top of my signal strength bar...
I think this means its data roaming? if this is the case...it should be okay (even though its going to bother me) because my service provider says my EDGE/Data is disabled (i do not have a data plan, NOR do i wish to incur any data charges.. i'm fine with my free WIFI ) .
However, if this means im roaming on another network, i dont want to be incuring any long distance charges on my phone EVEN when im using my own FIDO network..
I went to settings - about phone - status, and here are my specs (some of them):
Network: Fido
Network Type: EDGE
Service state: In service
Roaming: Roaming
Data Access: Disconnected
i'm pretty much just concerned about the ROAMING part of it... my other friends with G1's are with rogers, don't have that little R..
how do i get rid of that?? please and thanks!

Try manually changing the network in Settings>Wireless controls>Mobile networks>Operator selection
G1, like all GSM phones, will roam onto networks specified on the SIM if it can get a better signal. As long as the relevant operator has a roaming agreement in place, there's nothing to be concerned about, other than the R symbol in the status bar.
Mod: move this over to General discussion please.

I did change it and selected my Fido network (it's the only network available).

Thanks. I've set it to WCDMA only so I'll see how it goes.

Please help??? i still have that little R on top!

After I got home I found my phone had lost its connection. It didn't seem to be searching for the network. I had to go into settings, search for networks and then select three again. Is there any way to control if the phone does a search for networks automatically?

Looks like it reconnects to three on its own after a while. I still get the annoying popup about turning on data roaming though

footboydog said:
Looks like it reconnects to three on its own after a while. I still get the annoying popup about turning on data roaming though
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As has been previously mentioned, Three will "roam" onto another network if it goes out of Three's own 3G network coverage because Three does not run its own 2G network.
However, it isn't O2 anymore, it is Orange as of late 2006/2007. I *believe* that you won't be charged any more if you use data whilst "roaming" on Orange, so whilst you are in the UK it is quite safe to allow data roaming, but I would be inclined to check this with Three.
Regards,
Dave

Forcing G1 to Roam

I'm going camping this coming weekend to a place in the mountains that tmobile has very poor coverage in. I was there last month and discovered my friends at&t phone had full service while my g1 showed service, just didn't show any bars and other times only showed one bar. Calls with my phone were flacky and dropped out, his worked perfectly. Is there a way to make my phone switch to roaming on at&t?
I have a national plan on T-Mobile.
I'm running Cyanogen 3.9.5
Thanks!

nickwinn said:
I'm going camping this coming weekend to a place in the mountains that tmobile has very poor coverage in. I was there last month and discovered my friends at&t phone had full service while my g1 showed service, just didn't show any bars and other times only showed one bar. Calls with my phone were flacky and dropped out, his worked perfectly. Is there a way to make my phone switch to roaming on at&t?
I have a national plan on T-Mobile.
I'm running Cyanogen 3.9.5
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Should do it automatically. I saw my phone do this the other weekend when I was travelin. My phone showed ATT, Corr Wireless, and some other service and certain points.

The tmobile signal is just strong enough to keep it from roaming there. I was hoping it would switch automatically but it never did. I know the phone does have roaming ability, i've seen it switch to roam and work fine.

I would assume then just change your APN settings.

you can try manual operator selection, by going Settings > Wireless Controls > Mobile Network Settings > Network Operators > Search Networks then select whatever network you want to use

Hi.. I'm using CyanogenMod 3.6.8.1 on my HTC Dream and I've got the same issues with roaming. I've travelled to 3 countries last month and I had issues with connecting to GSM network.. There was error message that my sim card cannot work with specific networks.. I've tried to use auto connection and I've tried also to connect manually to specific networks, but with the same result. I've tried also rebooting and removing the battery... Problem disappeared after few hours... I had this issue in Austria, Hungary and Turkey so it's not operator/country specific. Problems doesn't exist on different cell phone (Nokia). Everything works fine after powering on the phone.