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As I can't seem to find ANY help on the Cingular forums I figured I would see if anyone here knows whats going on or if there is anyway to get my phone working again.
Basically it all boils down to this..
I don't get voice or data when a 3G network is available. It will connect, then say "No Service" moments later.
The phone works fine when no 3G network is avalable.
Again, everything was working great on the 3G network (Voice and Data) until Sunday, May 20th. Everyone I have talked to keep saying there where no changes.. but there was.
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If you feel so inclined to help me out or want more of the story and details. You can view the Cingular forum post here: http://forums.cingular.com/cng/board/message?board.id=cingular&thread.id=41937
I am not the only one with this problem but I sure feel like the only one.
Thanks
They've been changing the cell sites from Cingular to AT&T; given the old SIM and their complete disdain for Blue customers, I'd bet that's the problem.. Just go on the Smartphone Data plan for $20 and you'll save $5/mo.
The only Data plan I can get is mMode, which is great because I get it at $24.99 for Unlimited use.
The problem is I get "No Service" (Voice + Data) on the phone when in a 3G enabled area.
I'm a "blue" sim holder on a HTC branded TyTN with a legacy mmode unlimited plan (out of contract) running Dutty Premium in downtown Chicago and I've got 3G as we speak from a tower calling itself AT&T. Moreover my connection is not using the wap or ip settings: that is I have created a connection that has all the fields (except for the connection name) blank. Granted I can't access the oh so important Cingular video but that stuff is crap anyway (highlights of the Sopranos...wowwee). What I can do is VPN (Cisco IPSec and Windows PPTP), Remote Desktop, pull email, full browsing on PIE or Opera and 128 kbit MP3 streaming.
Occasionally I have had to reset my device (mostly since upgrading from 1.38) because I have lost all connectivity (phone and data) despite showing 2 or 3 bars of signal. My suggestion: create a new connection that's blank and but first try a reset (if you haven't already). You might want to think about trying a new Radio ROM as well.
Thanks! Glad to hear it is working for you. (Means it should be for me!)
My towers still however are "Cingular". But of course that shouldn't matter at all.
I guess I could try a custom ROM and do the update to WM6. ( If I can't get anywhere with tech support or customer service. They are supposed to be calling me back later today.)
Just using the latest official at&t ROM currently.
They just called me back assuring me it should be working and that they have a case open. The engineer I was talking with said that both he and his supervisor plan on watching as case they are curious about the outcome as well.
At least I feel better now knowing that it "should" be working for sure.
It's also nice to hear that upper management in the engineering department as well as tech support want to see what happens as well.
Man I really hate T-Mobile's tech support. I called them to ask a simple question:
If I cancel my Total Internet Package which is just 20$ more on by phone bill that I don't really need to be spending, will I be charged for using the WIFI on my phone when I am at home?
I have Comcast cable internet at home and can pick up the router's signal with my MDA even with the sim card out and browse the internet.
They turned around and told me that I would be charged per Kb if I canceled my Total Internet Package and then used my WIFI to pick up my home internet service.
By the way this was T-Mobile's Windows Mobile Department that told me this...
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Ok now I have 2 questions for all of you.
Is what T-mobile told me true?
Is there a cheaper way to get unlimited GPRS internet than T-Mobile's $19.99 Total Internet package?
The only time I use my GPRS is to update WeatherPanel and when I am using the OZ Instant Messenger. All other time I spend on the internet is with WIFI turned on and GPRS turned off.
Please, all help will be greatly appreciated and well received.
Thanks in advance, your friendly neighborhood computer geek, Dan.
Well I hope I can help answer your question somewhat.
I do not pay for the GPRS service through Tmobile, I try not to use it at all. If I pull data through it then I am charged. But if i use a wifi hotspot then Tmobile will not charge me. In truth they should have no way of telling if and when I use a WiFi connection. The reason the rep told you this was really a twisting of the truth. He can probably get away with telling you this because it will cut your access to Tmobile HotSpots which you get access to with the data plan. Sneaky sneaky bastards, you should post this little tale on http://consumerist.com/ .
To answer the second if Tmobile is your carrier then NO I dont believe you can get GPRS data from another carrier. Unless your phone is sim unlocked and you choose to use another carrier to get your data through, but this will need you to switch sims out. Either way your gonna pay for it. I would hold out till 1-2 quarter of 2008 Tmobile will start its HSDPA role out, providing upwards of 3Mbps for data. Of course you will need a phone capable of HSDPA, but such is life.
If I am uninformed of another method maybe someone here will be so kind as to enlighten us.
ritalin said:
Well I hope I can help answer your question somewhat.
I do not pay for the GPRS service through Tmobile, I try not to use it at all. If I pull data through it then I am charged. But if i use a wifi hotspot then Tmobile will not charge me. In truth they should have no way of telling if and when I use a WiFi connection. The reason the rep told you this was really a twisting of the truth. He can probably get away with telling you this because it will cut your access to Tmobile HotSpots which you get access to with the data plan. Sneaky sneaky bastards, you should post this little tale on http://consumerist.com/ .
To answer the second if Tmobile is your carrier then NO I dont believe you can get GPRS data from another carrier. Unless your phone is sim unlocked and you choose to use another carrier to get your data through, but this will need you to switch sims out. Either way your gonna pay for it. I would hold out till 1-2 quarter of 2008 Tmobile will start its HSDPA role out, providing upwards of 3Mbps for data. Of course you will need a phone capable of HSDPA, but such is life.
If I am uninformed of another method maybe someone here will be so kind as to enlighten us.
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I figured T-Mobile was full of S**T... I know I can access the internet via WIFI even without a sim card in the device. I only use it at home or in hospitals anyway. Like I said though, the GPRS for me, is just for WeatherPanel. That's why I am trying to find a cheaper way...
Thank you for your help though. Not the answer I was hoping for but very grateful non the less.
Dan.
You won't get charged for using wifi. If weather panel is all you really use GPRS for then go to the 5.99 plan. That's what I use and have no problem using weather panel or even browsing the web. The other day I even streamed video over it, although GPRS is way too slow to be any use for that but I wanted to see if it worked. The only apps that I know of that do have problems are mostly IM apps since they have most of the ports that those programs use blocked on the 5.99 plan.
Just realized that you said that you use OZ IM, I'm not sure if that will work or not, I can't seem to get it to work with WM6.
You will not be charged per kilobyte, whoever told you that was either new or retarded. The only difference you will see is that your instant messaging will go thru text messages instead of wifi, charging you per message, to log in, to log out, etc. That's due to the way the OZ instant messaging is written. The 5.99 has been working for a lot of people, but it was a glitch in the system that is slowly being fixed market by market, so don't get upset if it doesn't work for you or if it suddenly stops working, as it was never meant to work. If you connect thru wifi, you won't pay anything as it's your connection thru wifi to your phone's wifi, and the T-Mobile network is nowhere in the mix. Again, the Instant Messaging will be billed as text messages.
johnny12times said:
You will not be charged per kilobyte, whoever told you that was either new or retarded. The only difference you will see is that your instant messaging will go thru text messages instead of wifi, charging you per message, to log in, to log out, etc. That's due to the way the OZ instant messaging is written. The 5.99 has been working for a lot of people, but it was a glitch in the system that is slowly being fixed market by market, so don't get upset if it doesn't work for you or if it suddenly stops working, as it was never meant to work. If you connect thru wifi, you won't pay anything as it's your connection thru wifi to your phone's wifi, and the T-Mobile network is nowhere in the mix. Again, the Instant Messaging will be billed as text messages.
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That is really good to know. Can you tell me or direct me to a thread that explains the real difference between the 5.99 plan and the 19.99 Total Internet Package?
i don't know about the question you had, but I've had the other extreme as far as Tmo's customer support/tech support... always been great to me. Even after 2 refurbs.
Whoever told you that you'd be charged using Wi-Fi was either full of it or was ASSUMING you would then be accessing T-Mo services...why would you? Just use whatever service you use from home.
I use my MDA with Wi-Fi in my house ALL the time and it has NOTHING to do with T-Mobile. It's not EDGE/GPRS--it's a totally different technology, just like hooking your wireless laptop up to your home router.
Furthermore, you can use the Wi-Fi with T-Mobile Hot Spots if you have that subscription with ANY Wi-Fi computer you have--no reason to have more than one Hot Spot account--many hotels now have it, not just Starbucks.
T-Mobile NOW forces you to pay for Hot Spots with Internet Service as a bundle but they are different technologies.
The Internet Service is EDGE/GPRS and that is a CELLULAR service and is programmed into your SIM chip. I use that too. My MDA can hook into eMail and web sites without a Wi-Fi connection via the cell modem. But it's not nearly as fast.
I actually have 2 SIM chips with this service--I got one for my old IPAQ6315, but that's in the MDA. The one in the MDA is in my notebook computer--it has a Cingular Sony Ericsson cellular modem that I got the unlock code for, and put the chip from the MDA in there--I ALSO can use my notebook with EDGE/GPRS, or Wi-Fi (or even RJ45) connections.
I have the eMail for my regular eMail routed to my MDA--no messing with another address. So it's working a lot like a Blackberry as well.
Finally, you asked if there's a cheaper alternative: There is. It's called "T-Zones" and it's T-Mo's WAP service, for $6 or $7/month. It gives you the limited access you get on cell phones, and you already have it with the fancier internet access--click on T-Zones and you'll see it.
Generally, with T-Mo, service is a waste of time till you get to Level 2. But if you get to Level 3, then you get the techs that really know their business. The PDA support can be similar. But you got to jump through a lot of hoops to reach that level and that can take 30-45 minutes on the phone. Be persistent.
dharvey4651 said:
That is really good to know. Can you tell me or direct me to a thread that explains the real difference between the 5.99 plan and the 19.99 Total Internet Package?
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the 19.99 plan gives you your actual connection to the GPRS/EDGE(and in 4 test markets 3G! T-Mobile bought a whole lot of 3g network up recently.) network (internet2.voicestream.com), by connecting thru this route you are given access to the ports required to get to full websites, as well as email servers, etc.
the 5.99 plan is your basic wap access, t-zones and other wap sites. It's what is used by motorola's, samsungs, basic phones. Gives you access to your account information from T-Mobile's wap sites (but not on an mda running less than wm6 and having had the tzones applett installed), accuweather's website, and other wap websites. By connecting thru the wap APN, you are directed thru a filter that doesn't allow you full access to normal websites.
Now, T-Mobile has a glitch in their system where every now and then you get 5.99 internet and your number isn't put into the filter, so the ports that were supposed to be closed off to you never were, and you can browse and email just as if you had the 19.99 feature. The only problem? They know of the glitch and are closing it market by market, which has been taking the better part of 7 months now, but it's not that far from being finished.
Almost all programs you have installed on the mda that are third party will default to what ever internet connection is available, however, the OZ instant messaging program from the MDA and almost all other T-Mobile PDA's is written specifically to use the SMS (short message system) as the next backup if you aren't connected thru the internet2.voicestream.com, or blackberry.net apn if you are using a blackberry, so if you are connected thru wifi, then you will be charged text for each message.
Hope this helps, if not, let me know.
Johnny
I have not read or found anything on this before. So I thought that I would share what I just found. in the support section under sprint power vision it give a tutorial on to use your phone with the phone as modem and it make no mention of a charge for that service. So I asked a online chat rep. they said that it was included with power vision. So I said thanks disconnected started a new session asked again they said that it is not included. So I asked for a number to call they gave me a number for sprint employees as I have the SERO program, and apparently that is considered an employee account.
I called and asked them the same question to the live phone support person. She took a look at a few things and said yeah on the SERO program it is included but not on the power vision. So I asked her If there was anything I needed to do. She said nope I will add it onto your account. I once again verified that it was no charge she said that the SERO plans have it as a option for free but it is not by default turned on.
The number I called is 1-888-503-3078. It was given to me by the send online support person.
I am going to sparingly try it for a few days and then check it out the billing to be sure. I will let all you SERO users know for sure.
Hey i just called and asked the rep the same questions and what she told me was that sero is not covered under the phone as modem deal. She said it would cost 40 dollars a month for it so i decided that it didn't work for me. On the other hand i own the mogul and i asked her if i was unhappy with the performance of my phone because of it having crappy firmware update etc... she said i can call insurance and have them replace my phone with one of my choice for a 50 dollar deductable.
you should try these guys.
you pay a small fee one time till the exp of the license which should last a few years if i remember. just read the details of it. i have used it on sprint network with my treo 650. it works like a charm. you dont need to call sprint to ok this. just as long as you have a data plan on your cell phone. preferably the unlimited one as you will be on there for a while.
http://www.junefabrics.com/pdanet/index.php
personally, i could never get pdanet to work for me so i used usbmodem. after a while, i got lazy and just started using internet connection sharing and bluetooth.
oh yea, no charges for any data whatsoever
I just use Internet Sharing and bluetooth, I'm on the SERO plan, and it works *fantastically*. I get 60Kbps downloads w/out problems and have run VOIP over it.
I couldn't get ICS over bluetooth working correctly, it always drops the connection and shuts down bluetooth on the phone after about a minute, even with the latest ROM. WMWifirouter works great though, I'm getting around megabit/second in places with good coverage.
From primenall's posting in this thread:
There is one edit that should be done, that will eliminate a step in the connection process and will hide your tethering activity. Credit goes to Luv2Chill..... here's the Qoute
""""" OK I've poked into things a bit more and yes it seems Sprint is up to no good in regards to tethering. Those of you running Sprint ROMs should remove the following registry value:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Comm\InternetSharing]
"Extension"="rilphone.dll"
Usual caveats about editing the registry apply here--don't do this unless you know how."""""
Removing means Deleting that entry from the registry, (it doesn't delete rilphone.dll just the shortcut to it when you open I.S.)
Once done tethering is simple using the included Internet Sharing....
USB should only be plugged into PC at this point...
1. Open Internet Sharing and hit connect (it opens a data connection to Sprint)
2. Plug usb into phone, wait a minute for PC to set up and that's it.
Always hit "disconnect" in I.S. BEFORE removing USB, always.
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I deleted the regkey and connected via Internet Sharing without issue.
Once you get that working, check out WMWifiRouter. Turn your PPC into a wireless modem/router.
That reg key removal worked just fine for me. Did a small test with it and seems to work just fine. Now the wait until next billing cycle!
keep us updated on the outcome of that bill!!
taxilian said:
I just use Internet Sharing and bluetooth, I'm on the SERO plan, and it works *fantastically*. I get 60Kbps downloads w/out problems and have run VOIP over it.
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You should really try WMWifiRouter. The Sprint EVDO network is capable of much more than 60KB/s, but thats about the limit that you can achieve with bluetooth. WiFi on the other hand has much greater bandwidth and won't be a bottleneck like bluetooth. I don't use it much, but I can get around 130KB/s down using WMWifiRouter.
I was wondering... If you have unlimited data plan and setup your phone to act as a modem via the USB connection how can they stop you from using your phone as a modem? Shouldnt we get the full bandwith of Sprints network just doing it that way?
im using that WMWifiRouter thingy, and at first I was doing PAM conneciton (didn't realized it till I knew), then i started getting remote disconnected error. I assume Sprint stopped it on their end. Now I'm using PCS Vision. I really doubt I'm gunna get charged for tethering with the PCS Vision connection, I didnt even do any registry mod/delete.
My question is... Will I get charged for those time I was PAMing? I just wanted to seperate my usage charges to know if I'm getting charged for either both PCS Vision connection and PAM, or just PAM.
I get download speeds of 95 to 150kbps using rapidshare, btw
wonderboy2005 said:
You should really try WMWifiRouter. The Sprint EVDO network is capable of much more than 60KB/s, but thats about the limit that you can achieve with bluetooth. WiFi on the other hand has much greater bandwidth and won't be a bottleneck like bluetooth. I don't use it much, but I can get around 130KB/s down using WMWifiRouter.
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Sure, if your WM hardware uses BT1.2. If it uses BT2.0, then no
BT2.0 is gonna give you 3mbit/sec on the link, vs .721mb/sec
The 3mbit should be faster then any EVDO network you can find
Power drain should be significantly lower on the phone as well.
Hey guys, I'm new here but I have some (nooby) questions. I'm currently using an iphone to tether my laptop using web2go from t-mobile. I got a g1 from someone and of course rooted and started tinkering with it so that I could get web2go to work on the g1.
My question mainly is if I port over say another android based os, like the droid eris os that is available, does that change the way the phone interacts with t mobile? Or would t-mobile still recognize the internal imei and not care about the os and settings? I'm mainly asking if I can port over another os onto the g1 so I can tether like I currently do.
I know there will be the people who say just buy the more expensive plans, but if I could I would. I'm tethering with these phones because I can't afford real internet!
Any help would be appreciated, thank you.
Tmobile will recognize the IMEI although I have used the wireless and wifi tether's both and not had a problem on Tmo.
wait you use the 9.99 web2go? What settings do you use? Because whenever I try it has trouble "finding internet connection" or whatever. although technically the internet should still be coming through right? It's just being subverted by the g1's software that requires the higher tier services?
If its rooted, just use the wireless tether app. You can find the link here and put it on your SD card. Download Linda file manager from the market and use it to install the tether apk. From there, you will change your phones 3G or Edge signal into a wifi one that your laptop can use. You can use that on any rom, and it doesn't matter wether its droid eris or stock. The only thing that tmobile can see is your imei and your radio version, not the rom.
ok I will try this tomorrow and get back to you. Thanks for all the help
well I tried it real quick right now and I guess I forgot to make clear whats going on. When using the G1 as opposed to the iphone, the web2go subscription gets subverted. So while web2go works with a proxy on the iphone, on the G1 it does nothing.
I have the tools to tether except the G1 / T-mobile subvert the internet. I wanted to know if this was based on imei or on a software lock. Because I have heard of people using their G1's with web2go I'm assuming it's a software lock. So if I use a rom of an os that can run web2go, will I be able to use it? or will the imei lock it out?
howardho said:
well I tried it real quick right now and I guess I forgot to make clear whats going on. When using the G1 as opposed to the iphone, the web2go subscription gets subverted. So while web2go works with a proxy on the iphone, on the G1 it does nothing.
I have the tools to tether except the G1 / T-mobile subvert the internet. I wanted to know if this was based on imei or on a software lock. Because I have heard of people using their G1's with web2go I'm assuming it's a software lock. So if I use a rom of an os that can run web2go, will I be able to use it? or will the imei lock it out?
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Click to collapse
there's only really two different os versions. well, more, but two popular ones. 1.6 (donut) and 2.1 (eclair). does the g1 have a data plan? does it even have 3g? you say you just got it, so if you don't have 3g, there's nothing to tether. as for it not working - if you're rooted it will work. there's also a app on the market (for now) called easy tether. just use the free version.
edit: read top post more clearly - no. you can't tether if you don't have 3g. if you can, it's new to me.
one more edit: you can do what my friend did - take an old satellite dish, hardwire it to a router, and just connect a lot of wire clothes hangers to the satellite's receptor or.. er... thingy and steal wifi for like miles. ha ha.
The thing is web2go is a data plan that can access unlimited 3g through a proxy. T mobile wants users to use their strict g1 data plan, so any other data plans get shut off. I'm wondering if it's imei or software. If its a software lock then I can just install a different rom I'm guessing.
When I tether with the same data plan on my iphone i get edge speeds, the main reason i want to get the g1 working is so i can get the 3g speeds
Ok, then try this. Go to the tmobile.com website, sign in using your number and password (or create an account). When you get to the screen that shows you a picture of your phone, select the option right under the picture that says not my phone, then select any other 3G capable, non android device. That should put you in the clear for a few hours/days/weeks/months, or whenever they decide to check your account.
Ok I tried it but it still didn't work. I'm starting to think it might be the g1 software which is helping shut off the Internet. I'm going to install a new rom and hopefully I'll be able to set the settings for t mobile. Will keep u guys posted
So I just picked up a couple of WM phones HTC743 and an AT&T Tilt 2.
I've been using one of the early windows smartphones for a number of years just for the the contact manager because it uses activesynch nicely with Outlook. Too damn small for any network access though.
I'm not terribly interested in a big data plan for a lot of internet access. I might pickup my email and surf a bit while I'm traveling though. I had wanted to use the wifi for that.
Th HTC s743 gave AT&T a bit of a startle because the didn't know what it was.
It's functioning but even though I have Data Conn. turned off it still manages to automatically turn on once in a while. I see daily very low volume charges even though everything says I'm accessing via WIFI.
I just plugged the simm into the Tilt 2 and though I haven't called AT&T as yet about this phone it did allow calls in and out but I can't seem to get the internet connection working even though wifi shows as being connected. It takes a long time for it to connect compared with the S743.
So ... is there a way to use either of these phones via wifi only?
Just turning off the Data Conn. on the s743 doesn't seem to completely work. The pre loaded GPS app appears to automatically turn Data Conn. back on. I know it does this if wifi & Data Conn. are both turned off.
A neat little AT&T billing trick?
From what I have read on here I think I maybe screwed on the TILT 2.
It also appears that until I register the Tilt 2 with AT&T my WIFI internet surfing just isn't going to work or do I have something else wrong?
I just have Data off, and no Data plan, but I'm using a android phone. I'm using the HTC Aria.
I was able to fix the S743 by just deleting the "APN"? in the configuration menu. I can always reload it quickly from AT&T if need be. But that phone also let's me pick between AT&T or Tmobile so I think it's more flexible to begin with. It's WM6.1 whereas the AT&T Tilt 2 is WM6.5 and there's no such configuration page where you can download the network configuration from AT&T. I've looked but maybe I missed something?
I also can't get this phone to work on WIFI either yet.
If you can, just change a character in the apn. This will stop it connecting, and it will let you easily switch it back on by changing it back if need be