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From: Joerg on 11 Jul 2010 20:43
Joel Koltner wrote:
> Joerg wrote:
>> Ok, I don't know the cell phone carriers in Canada but what would you
>> do with an unlocked phone in the US?
>
> 1: Take it to other countries with you, swap the SIM card (since pretty
> much all U.S. carriers have, let's say, "highly opportunistic" rates
> while travelling outside the U.S.), and still have access to all your
> same applications, contacts list, etc. Very nice compared to having two
> phones...
>

If you have a pricey tri-band phone.


> 2: For people who use pre-paid plans, it's convenient to, e.g., sign up
> with AT&T, pay'em $30 or so for 3 months with some fixed number of
> minutes, and at the end of that term shop around who then has the best
> plan for the next 3 months (or whatever). This isn't really viable for
> businessmen who need stable incoming phone numbers, but for regular
> consumers (and in particular teens) it has a certain attraction.
>

You can now take the same phone number with you. But you are right, even
a 3h service non-overlap can throw you a curve in business. Changing
ISPs is easier, you fire it all up from a separate computer and switch
the email forwarding only after it's all 100% up.


> With CDMA this doesn't really apply since of course, in the U.S., CDMA
> phones don't have SIM cards... and even now switching a phone between
> the two major CDMA carriers (Verizon & Sprint) is often a hassle.
>

Mine is CDMA-only. In the US low-minute users like me don't have much of
a choice. AFAIK when you need voice-only there are only T-Mobile and
AT&T with major GSM networks and when I inquired their pre-paid deals
didn't quite stack up. Also, there are some coverage issues around here.
Well, if they don't repair the tower I'll be in that club as well now :-)

How's that for ditching the landline: A neighbor signed on the dotted
line, IIRC that locked him in for two years, then found out that GSM at
his house is between zero bars and one bar. Like what I have now. He had
to mount a yagi on his roof so now he has a cell phone with a cord.


> The CDMA carriers have occasionally released a dual-mode CDMA & GSM
> phone, though, which has appeal as well. Basically scenario #1 up there
> applies... my mother does this, using Sprint here in the U.S. and
> Vodafone (GSM) when she's in New Zealand or jetsetting around.
>

You'd also need a tri-band phone because the cell frequency ranges can
be slightly different between countries.

I wonder, for voice-dialing does the phone then switch between Kiwi
accent and north-western? :-)

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

"gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam.
Use another domain or send PM.
From: Spehro Pefhany on 11 Jul 2010 20:46
On Sun, 11 Jul 2010 07:57:20 -0700, the renowned Joerg
<invalid(a)invalid.invalid> wrote:

>Gents,
>
>My trusty old Nokia 2115i only gets one and very occasionally two bars.
>It does connect but calls fail. Can't get a new one before the next trip
>because it needs to be sent from VirginMobile and the local stores don't
>have any that would work. Is there some "typical" problem that happens
>with such phones, like bad solder joints?

Is there an antenna connector you could try an external antenna on?


I like their chutzpah with this:
https://www.mobilizenow.com/catalog/Nokia_2115i_Antennas_694519.htm

So the question is, do these things really work? Well, they do in fact
help in areas where the signal is existent but weak. Not recommended
in areas where no signal at all exists.

;-)


Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany
--
"it's the network..." "The Journey is the reward"
speff(a)interlog.com Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com
Embedded software/hardware/analog Info for designers: http://www.speff.com
From: Spehro Pefhany on 11 Jul 2010 20:49
On Sun, 11 Jul 2010 17:43:06 -0700, the renowned Joerg
<invalid(a)invalid.invalid> wrote:


>I wonder, for voice-dialing does the phone then switch between Kiwi
>accent and north-western? :-)

When we were in Italy one summer, I ran across some Brits who were
confused when the phone menu told them to press the "pound" key, as
their phone lacked a "�" symbol.


Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany
--
"it's the network..." "The Journey is the reward"
speff(a)interlog.com Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com
Embedded software/hardware/analog Info for designers: http://www.speff.com
From: Joerg on 11 Jul 2010 20:52
mpm wrote:
> On Jul 11, 9:57 am, Joerg <inva...(a)invalid.invalid> wrote:
>> Gents,
>>
>> My trusty old Nokia 2115i only gets one and very occasionally two bars.
>> It does connect but calls fail. Can't get a new one before the next trip
>> because it needs to be sent from VirginMobile and the local stores don't
>> have any that would work. Is there some "typical" problem that happens
>> with such phones, like bad solder joints?
>>
>> Or are there any issues with the Sprint network these days? That's what
>> it uses.
>>
>> --
>> Regards, Joerg
>>
>> http://www.analogconsultants.com/
>>
>> "gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam.
>> Use another domain or send PM.
>
> Couple ideas to try:
>
> Can you put the phone in "test mode"?
> http://www.wpsantennas.com/pdf/testmode/FieldTestModes.pdf
>

Thanks, cool! I always wanted a real signal strength indicator instead
of those stupid bars. But I am going to try that after a slew of
upcoming biz trips are over. Don't want to brick the phone a day before
leaving town :-)


> Maybe you can reset it, or find the RSSI (signal strength) screen and
> do some experiments.
> Go outside, find a nearby Sprint tower, etc... See if it's really the
> phone, or maybe Sprint has made some recent changes to the network,
> and now you're sitting in a coverage black hole.?
>
> If the latter, the phone should still operate normally at other
> locations (i.e., where Sprint has not made any network changes).
>

Well, I did that today. Turns out south of Hwy 50 I can get a signal and
can call out on the cell phone. Not sure if the same signal strength
though, can't remember how it was before.


> Now of course, I have no idea if Sprint did any cell splitting, or any
> other maintenance work (i.e., antenna downtilts, replacement of
> defective antennas, water in the coax, etc., etc..,) that may have led
> to your troubles...
> There are many things that can go wrong. (Even bad passive
> intermodulation as things on the tower vibrate in the wind!)...
>

Coincidentally we did get a smart-meter installed right around the time
this happened. Didn't want it but PG&E foists them onto people around
here. It's either take it or lose power. But AFAIK those work on 900MHz.


> The point is, most (if not all) of those things will be localized to a
> given tower, not the whole network. Move, and the problem should NOT
> move with you, if the culprit is a particular tower in the network.
>
> And of course, we're just talking the RF path here, but that seems
> reasonable since you mentioned an apparent reduction in the number of
> bars you see.
> An actual RSSI reading from the phone would prove much more
> informative, but I'm not familiar with your particular handset.
>
> If you happen to live in one of the areas where Sprint is rolling out
> its 4G network, you can bet workers were on the towers recently.
> Perhaps something got damaged or dislodged. Happens all the time.
>
> Or, hey, it's an old phone. It's certainly possible its receiver is
> kaput.
>
> Good luck!!
>

Thanks. At least it seems to work when far away from home. But old? One
of my radios here is older than I am and still works. So does a fridge
that's well over half a century old.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

"gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam.
Use another domain or send PM.
From: Joel Koltner on 11 Jul 2010 21:32
"Joerg" <invalid(a)invalid.invalid> wrote in message
news:89v6osFn4pU1(a)mid.individual.net...
> Joel Koltner wrote:
>> Joerg wrote:
>>> Ok, I don't know the cell phone carriers in Canada but what would you
>>> do with an unlocked phone in the US?
>> 1: Take it to other countries with you, swap the SIM card...
> If you have a pricey tri-band phone.

Yes, although "pricey" is kinda relative... you can get some very nice tri- or
quad-bnad phones in the $100-$300 range used, for instance -- and for people
already paying, e.g., $50-$100/mo for fancy "all you can eat"
voice/text/data/etc. plans, the handset isn't a particularly significant cost.

> Mine is CDMA-only. In the US low-minute users like me don't have much of
> a choice. AFAIK when you need voice-only there are only T-Mobile and
> AT&T with major GSM networks and when I inquired their pre-paid deals
> didn't quite stack up.

When this was last discussed I seem to recall the deal was that even the least
expensive prepaid plans had you ponying up >=$10/mo... whereas you're
currently paying $5/mo, is it?

> How's that for ditching the landline: A neighbor signed on the dotted
> line, IIRC that locked him in for two years, then found out that GSM at
> his house is between zero bars and one bar. Like what I have now. He had
> to mount a yagi on his roof so now he has a cell phone with a cord.

Most carriers at least give you a week or so grace period -- that's pretty
poor that he was locked in immediately.

I was in a comparable situation when I moved from Albany to Corvallis some
years ago, but since I was already something around a year into a two-year
contract, there was no grace for me.

Although I ended up being OK with just a dipole rather than needing a Yagi --
a lot of the problem apparently was just foil insulation in the walls. (It
was a rental.)

> I wonder, for voice-dialing does the phone then switch between Kiwi
> accent and north-western? :-)

No, but the voicemail systems do! :-)

---Joel

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