Cingular MMS is down!?

According to Cingular after-hours tech support (does it bug anyone
else that a phone company doesn't have real 24/7 tech support?) the
Cingular "GSM MMS service has been down since 12/4).

PURE coincidence, I'm sure, is that my account on cingular.com has
quite simply disappeared. Even attempting to re-register produces
"phone number unknown" - but the tech says that my number exists, I
have a credit balance and "everything looks good"

Anyone else using MMS via Cingular GSM this weekend? Any trouble
sending or receiving? (When I send from phone it goes no where, when I
send to phone, [email protected], I get a bounce back
saying user does not exist)

db

---

› See More: Cingular MMS is down!?

My account has been locked for a week. Had it reset twice, but still locked.

"Drestin Black" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> According to Cingular after-hours tech support (does it bug anyone
> else that a phone company doesn't have real 24/7 tech support?) the
> Cingular "GSM MMS service has been down since 12/4).
>
> PURE coincidence, I'm sure, is that my account on cingular.com has
> quite simply disappeared. Even attempting to re-register produces
> "phone number unknown" - but the tech says that my number exists, I
> have a credit balance and "everything looks good"
>
> Anyone else using MMS via Cingular GSM this weekend? Any trouble
> sending or receiving? (When I send from phone it goes no where, when I
> send to phone, [email protected], I get a bounce back
> saying user does not exist)
>
> db

Drestin Black <[email protected]> wrote:
> According to Cingular after-hours tech support (does it bug anyone
> else that a phone company doesn't have real 24/7 tech support?) the
> Cingular "GSM MMS service has been down since 12/4).

Funny you should mention that... (see below)

> PURE coincidence, I'm sure, is that my account on cingular.com has
> quite simply disappeared. Even attempting to re-register produces
> "phone number unknown" - but the tech says that my number exists, I
> have a credit balance and "everything looks good"

I was able to create and then afterwards log in to my account this afternoon
(Dec 5, PST).

> Anyone else using MMS via Cingular GSM this weekend? Any trouble
> sending or receiving? (When I send from phone it goes no where, when I
> send to phone, [email protected], I get a bounce back
> saying user does not exist)

I just got my first Cingular service on Friday, with a Motorola V3. I just
subscribed to this group to ask why pictures I emailed to myself didn't
arrive

--
For mail, please use my surname where indicated:
[email protected] (Steve Brecher)

as of this sunday 2004-12-06, i have been unable to send/receive multi-media msg's. I have run into this also previously at the 4:00/7:00pm EST crunch time, but then messages are re-send -able later.

ad hoc text msg's are delivered [from DC govt i am set up on their emergency alert system], and my MEdia Net text alerts msg's that are time/date subscribed are on time to the minute. AIM works, Yahoo Messenger works, of course WWW sites via MEdia NET like Google and Yahoo local etc. and Trafficland.com traffic picture web all work too, but email with or without attachments is not going or coming.

Email Msg's BOUNCE when sent to phone from yahoo web-based mail or erol's.com SMTP pop mail when sent using either email format:
[email protected]
[554 errors, to many hops]
or
[email protected]
[550 errors user unknown]



Previous to this, i was able to get some multi-media msg's and some with bigger pictures sent in would not be delivered but instead would say PICTURE WAS TOO BIG.
CIngular MEdia mall sounds, such as classic rock ringtones and graphics came via delivery direct fast!
I could send everything email, AIM, cam generated pix, videos.

Now phone will compose and send the email and then states MAIL SENT. and it will show that in the message status upon READ command, but mail never hits intended yahoo or erols email saved in the phone address book.

when phone tries to check email at the setup specified 30 minute interval or ad hoc through menu prompting to check email by doing command:

'connect to remote server?" YES,

the double direction arrows and the RF waves eminating icons would show it broadcasting, but then in about fifteen seconds, i hear the same three tones as one hears when a phone number one calls is DISCONNECTED, 'Ba boo beeep' contnually, until i hit the 'hang the phone down' button. Maybe Cingular forgot to pay their baby bell bill? ;^D

i live in NW Wash., DC, plenty of signal: 3 bars and up. Use a two week old Cingular Motorola V551, with the MEdia net bundle service.

Tonght 12-6-04, re-Scrubbed setup's EXTENSIVELY with a yum-sounding tech support in Little Rock, competent/courteous and sounded sweetly southern, was very eager and full of initiative so all menus were scrubbed, and i enjoyed her company and warmth as we ran through everything so i never minded a minute to be a party to her thoroughness.

We checked everything: MMS, web sessions, ISP/GPRS etc. all set-ups OK. She also 'checked the switch' at the node on her end for any clogged packets for my phone she said my data pipes were clean, she even confirmed my PC web access passwords were what she saw they were on-screenas she stated even that can cause hiccups.

Anyone else with similar situation?

john

I talked to primary technical support today. I just dont' get it. As
far as I can tell, by asking as many Cingular customers as I know, that
EVERYONE of them is down and the tech herself admitted that no one
there can send or received MMS message - and yet... they went through
the paces of checking my phone settings and forwarding the issue to the
next level. But, if this is some huge outage, why aren't they aware of
it and responding to it in appropriate fashion? I wonder if they'd be
this unresponsive if it were voice calls that were down?

I talked to primary technical support today. I just dont' get it. As
far as I can tell, by asking as many Cingular customers as I know, that
EVERYONE of them is down and the tech herself admitted that no one
there can send or received MMS message - and yet... they went through
the paces of checking my phone settings and forwarding the issue to the
next level. But, if this is some huge outage, why aren't they aware of
it and responding to it in appropriate fashion? I wonder if they'd be
this unresponsive if it were voice calls that were down?

as i was composing an email message from within my MEdia net browser, i just got a phonecam capture picture email i sent TO my phone's email address FROM my phone about half an hour prior.

the composed email from within MEdia net Messaging /EMail option failed to be sent DATA SERVER NOT AVAILABLE.

and now i am trying to send this and i am getting also a
502 PAGE CANNOT BE FOUND error.

next i'll try within to send from within the browser via MY Yahoo.

if i go to MyYahoo through my PORTAL on my web browser, it auto logs me in. if i go from a bookmark, i have to type in my userid password for yahoo.

Moto V551 Phone could do a better job of 'remembering' my keystrokes.

now a second MM camera phone picture capture i sent from phone to my phone just came, again about half an hour later; maybe corresponds to my half hour check email interval, not sure of timing, if it has due to a phone poll to check, or if they reset some switching routers at cingular itself.

tried to send an MM picture email msg, says it went ok, but receiving pop email server has no receipt of it yet.

i composed a text only email on My Yahoo on the phone. i sent it via Yahoo via my phones' browser to my erols address pop mail address and to my phone email with NO pictures attached. the message came from my yahoo account to my erols pop account as i checked that also from within my MyYahoo page on the phone browser.

i confirmed the Yahoo sent message was also in my erols inbox on my PC also.

So it looks like web browser can send, but MMS cannot send and receiving is spotty.

right back where we started!

in a about two hours (@ 400am EST 12-07-04) moon occults jupiter, maybe that will help this?!
;^D

john

all this because i want to capture email pix my webcam's motion detection feature will capture/send pix out on email.

if simple packets are such a hassle to send/receive, i guess streaming video /audio to/from the phone is out of the question.

2 much fun!

i spoke with customer care (not tech support) earlier yesterday 12-06-04 and they were reporting a few MMS outages in the Wash/Balt area, not sure elsewhere.

Would be nice to get a text message pushed to phones that alerted users of issues in their area.

john

rocketjohnny wrote:
> i spoke with customer care (not tech support) earlier yesterday 12-06-04
> and they were reporting a few MMS outages in the Wash/Balt area, not
> sure elsewhere.
>
> Would be nice to get a text message pushed to phones that alerted users
> of issues in their area.
>
> john


Well, there's no way that I have a clue, but the time frames you mention
in your previous post indicate your troubles occur in the wee hours,
which is precisely when naintenance windows are typically scheduled for
equipment changes. IOW, trying to use a network which is literally
evolving in a daily basis could well be a crap shoot on any given night.


--
jer email reply - I am not a 'ten'

[POSTED TO alt.cellular.cingular - REPLY ON USENET PLEASE]

In <[email protected]> on 6 Dec 2004
21:41:05 -0800, [email protected] wrote:

>I talked to primary technical support today. I just dont' get it. As
>far as I can tell, by asking as many Cingular customers as I know, that
>EVERYONE of them is down and the tech herself admitted that no one
>there can send or received MMS message - and yet... they went through
>the paces of checking my phone settings and forwarding the issue to the
>next level. But, if this is some huge outage, why aren't they aware of
>it and responding to it in appropriate fashion? I wonder if they'd be
>this unresponsive if it were voice calls that were down?

I sent a multimedia (picture) message to myself, and it came through fine,
although there was some delay in delivery.

--
Best regards, HELP FOR CINGULAR GSM & SONY ERICSSON PHONES:
John Navas <http://navasgrp.home.att.net/#Cingular>

[POSTED TO alt.cellular.cingular - REPLY ON USENET PLEASE]

In <[email protected]> on Tue, 7 Dec 2004
01:01:51 -0600, rocketjohnny <[email protected]>
wrote:

>i spoke with customer care (not tech support) earlier yesterday 12-06-04
>and they were reporting a few MMS outages in the Wash/Balt area, not
>sure elsewhere.
>
>Would be nice to get a text message pushed to phones that alerted users
>of issues in their area.

No thanks! I think that would be annoying. What I think would be nice is to
have a Star Services number for local system status. However, I don't think
that's in the cards.

--
Best regards, HELP FOR CINGULAR GSM & SONY ERICSSON PHONES:
John Navas <http://navasgrp.home.att.net/#Cingular>

John Navas wrote:
> [POSTED TO alt.cellular.cingular - REPLY ON USENET PLEASE]
>
>
> I sent a multimedia (picture) message to myself, and it came through
fine,
> although there was some delay in delivery.
>

I too was able to send myself a MMS message from my phone to my own
phone - but nothing outbound. Significantly if I try to send an e-mail
to my phone [email protected] I immediately get a bounce back
saying user unknown.

I did, finally, get a call back from a senior tech who admited that
thousands appear to be affected and in random areas, not just my part
of the US (SE Michigan). They have been working on this since Saturday
to resolve it. I made the obvious suggestion; why not just delete and
recreate the accounts? I mean, "unknown user" - sounds obvious to any
POP3 server administrator, the account is simply not there. Create it
again! Relink if necessary but that's a start.

[POSTED TO alt.cellular.cingular - REPLY ON USENET PLEASE]

In <[email protected]> on 7 Dec 2004
13:33:49 -0800, [email protected] wrote:

>John Navas wrote:
>>
>> I sent a multimedia (picture) message to myself, and it came through fine,
>> although there was some delay in delivery.
>
>I too was able to send myself a MMS message from my phone to my own
>phone - but nothing outbound.

My test proved that MMS was working to at least the Cingular subscriber base.
Beyond that it would be a gateway issue, which wouldn't be surprising, since
MMS gateways are still relatively new.

>Significantly if I try to send an e-mail
>to my phone [email protected] I immediately get a bounce back
>saying user unknown.

That would be a gateway issue.

>I did, finally, get a call back from a senior tech who admited that
>thousands appear to be affected and in random areas, not just my part
>of the US (SE Michigan). They have been working on this since Saturday
>to resolve it. I made the obvious suggestion; why not just delete and
>recreate the accounts? I mean, "unknown user" - sounds obvious to any
>POP3 server administrator, the account is simply not there. Create it
>again! Relink if necessary but that's a start.

I doubt that it would be that easy; worse, I suspect serious havoc might well
result.

I personally don't see this as a big issue because I send multimedia as email
attachments (using an email client in the phone), which works very well
indeed.

--
Best regards, HELP FOR CINGULAR GSM & SONY ERICSSON PHONES:
John Navas <http://navasgrp.home.att.net/#Cingular>

I have been having the same issue, and still have it. I thought it was
isolated to my new Mpx220, but it seems to be everyone. I can send mms
messages to myself, but not to any other customers or from my email to
myself. I would like to know when this gets resolved, so I can stop
pulling my hair out. If any one has any information, I would appreciate
knowing it.


--
browngb
brought to you by http://www.wifi-forum.com/

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...o_wdsu/2489119

I am seeing a trend with Cingular that they have KNOWN issues in software, but they are NOT:
'pushing text messages to users' or
'posting these issues on their website' or 'providing the lowest (first) levels of customer-interfacing tech support' or 'providing retail center personnel' with this information.

This lack of approval of dissemination of information within the corporation out to customers looks deceptive and I believe is really hurting their customers' perception of them, clogging their tech support line unnecessarily, etc.

If Cingular simply acknowledged KNOWN issues and got the word out to customers using any/ALL of the above methods, we would appreciate their honesty and know then that an issue was going to be fixed and to ignore it for now.

I just got through working an issue on my Motorola V551 GSM:
http://commerce.motorola.com/cgi-bin...nbr=1&zipcode=
that I thought was my set up because the V551 help screens for tech support parties aren't posted yet so tech's have to PHYSICALLY use an actual phone to navigate to confirm a customer's settings, as some settings are device-specific, only a few of them, but these are critical to proper functionality.

I downloaded the Cingular developer site's WAP settings .pdf Mr. Navas has a link to on his site:
http://navasgrp.home.att.net/#Cingular
and I hand annotated ALL of my V551 menu's settings and navigation commands and called tech support back and visited my retailer store where i purchased in NW Wash., DC.

The DC store immediately I was 'way out of their league with such questions" so I re-tried tech support.

After 16 different tech support parties, some who gave improper info to me because they were guessing because they so strongly desired a one call resolution outcomes, I spent countless hours since this past Sunday. Today, 12-08-04, after going through seven people over an hour and a half, and then spending an additional hour and a half working with a BRILLIANT data tech who physically got the office's beta handheld V551 and stepped through EACH setting on that phone to confirm mine, I find out from her the data team in Atlanta has Cingular-wide email's circulating that an MMS upgrade went live this weekend, was not functioning acceptably, so it was pulled and now Cingular is restoring original email capacity back to its system as they re-group and resolve the upgrade issues off-line before re-attempting going LIVE with it again, and until then, sproadic and various MMS connectivity and functionality issues [that I am experiencing] will be occuring over the next few weeks.

Why is that info hidden from me?

Why isn't Cingular's FIRST SELECTION FOR EXISTING CUSTOMERS is "please press blah for CURRENT ISSUES STATUS" or why doesn't their FIRST HOLD MESSAGE when on tech support HOLD state these issues, both as either system-wide or regional specific, instead of the inane sales pitches i have to suffer through on hold?