old phones can't roam

My son recently took his Nokia 3395 to Chicago and it didn't work. He
swapped its SIM to a friend's phone and that did work. So is a Nokia 3395
no longer supported for roaming by Cingular? We also have a Nokia 6200
and a Motorola T720 - should either of those be expected to work? And how
can one tell besides going there - these older phone models seem to
disappear like a purged commissar from Cingular's web pages. If I do need
to buy newer phones, what should I look for to allow the possibility of
roaming in the USA and preferably also internationally.

---

› See More: old phones can't roam

There should be an option to set the network manually. On my "older" nokia:
menu-settings-network services-system selection-manual. If other networks are available, when you select manual it searches then displays network(s) available. Be aware that if you roam for 51% of your usage for 3 mos, Cingular will drop you. So don't forget to switch back to automatic from manual. Hope this helps.

Oh and if you are looking to purchase a phone that will work stateside and overseas, your best bet will be 1)get a quad-band phone--supports 850/900/1800/1900 freqs. Generally speaking, 850/1900 used in US, 900/1800 overseas. 2)(this is copied and pasted) If you expect to make or receive a lot of calls while overseas, it might make sense to purchase a SIM card from a local service provider in the country you are visiting. This will give you cheaper rates plus incoming local callers will not have to dial international long distance to reach you.
Because GSM phones are considered 'dumb' until you add a SIM card, sometimes people carry a few different SIM cards with them since one provider might offer cheaper long distance over another and so on. SIM swapping is not very well known in North America, but in Europe many travelers carry multiple cards to minimize roaming charges in different countries.
In order to swap SIM cards your handset cannot be SP-locked or "locked" to your local service provider.
If you do purchase a new SIM while overseas, look for a package that includes a SIM card and an amount of pre-paid airtime. Often the SIM card is free with an initial purchase of airtime vouchers, although there might be a small set-up charge.

Overseas Roaming for North Americans
Road Warrior Resources

You might want to check out these sites for more important info about cell(mobile) phone usage internatioanlly to be procative in reducing frustration and costs. Also be advised that other countries use differing voltages and their electrical outlets are different requiring transformers and adaptors for american electrical devices and plugs. Hope this helps. If so, boost my rep. Thanks. Smiles.

In article <[email protected]>,
PrimeWoman <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>There should be an option to set the network manually. On my "older"
>nokia:
>menu-settings-network services-system selection-manual. If other
>networks are available, when you select manual it searches then
>displays network(s) available. Be aware that if you roam for 51% of
>your usage for 3 mos, Cingular will drop you. So don't forget to switch
>back to automatic from manual. Hope this helps.

Cingular SIMs and/or branded phone firmware will disable manual network
selection on most phones.

In article <[email protected]>, [email protected] says...
> My son recently took his Nokia 3395 to Chicago and it didn't work. He
> swapped its SIM to a friend's phone and that did work. So is a Nokia 3395
> no longer supported for roaming by Cingular? We also have a Nokia 6200
> and a Motorola T720 - should either of those be expected to work? And how
> can one tell besides going there - these older phone models seem to
> disappear like a purged commissar from Cingular's web pages. If I do need
> to buy newer phones, what should I look for to allow the possibility of
> roaming in the USA and preferably also internationally.
>
The 3395 is a 1900 MHz only phone. Much of Cingular's coverage is now
850 MHz especially areas that converted from TDMA. The friend's phone
could have been 850/1900 capable as are the 6200 and the *USA*GSM* T720.
I would not consider any new model that wasn't dual band.
--
Jud
Dallas TX USA

If you read tmoran's thread starter fully, one of the issues of concern was being able to use the phone internationally, hence my recommendation to opt for a quadband phone since it would support all the gsm frequencies needed to operate stateside and beyond it's borders.

A note of interest to tmoran--there will be available soon, a AA battery operated cell phone charger(currently patent pending), that will dispense with the need for transformers and adapters. You can do a search for cell phone turbo charger or battery operated cell phone turbo charger for more info.

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

In <[email protected]> on Sun, 30 Apr 2006 13:56:22
-0500, PrimeWoman <[email protected]> wrote:

>A note of interest to tmoran--there will be available soon, a AA
>battery operated cell phone charger(currently patent pending), that
>will dispense with the need for transformers and adapters. You can do
>a search for cell phone turbo charger or battery operated cell phone
>turbo charger for more info.

Chargers based on standard expendable batteries have been available for a long
time.

--
Best regards, SEE THE FAQ FOR CINGULAR WIRELESS AT
John Navas <http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cingular_Wireless_FAQ>

In article <[email protected]>,
John Navas <[email protected]> wrote:
>[POSTED TO alt.cellular.cingular - REPLY ON USENET PLEASE]
>
>In <[email protected]> on Sun, 30 Apr 2006 13:56:22
>-0500, PrimeWoman <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>A note of interest to tmoran--there will be available soon, a AA
>>battery operated cell phone charger(currently patent pending), that
>>will dispense with the need for transformers and adapters. You can do
>>a search for cell phone turbo charger or battery operated cell phone
>>turbo charger for more info.
>
>Chargers based on standard expendable batteries have been available for a long
>time.

Yes, but the OP is referring to something truly new - a charger powered by
a single AA cell through an inverter circuit - a technique borrowed from
the LED flashlight designers.

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

In <[email protected]> on Mon, 1 May 2006 20:30:29 +0000 (UTC),
[email protected] (Mike S.) wrote:

>In article <[email protected]>,
>John Navas <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>>In <[email protected]> on Sun, 30 Apr 2006 13:56:22
>>-0500, PrimeWoman <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>>>A note of interest to tmoran--there will be available soon, a AA
>>>battery operated cell phone charger(currently patent pending), that
>>>will dispense with the need for transformers and adapters. You can do
>>>a search for cell phone turbo charger or battery operated cell phone
>>>turbo charger for more info.
>>
>>Chargers based on standard expendable batteries have been available for a long
>>time.
>
>Yes, but the OP is referring to something truly new - a charger powered by
>a single AA cell through an inverter circuit - a technique borrowed from
>the LED flashlight designers.

How is that better than using cheap multiple batteries (with correspondingly
greater capacity) that are sold in multi-packs?

--
Best regards, SEE THE FAQ FOR CINGULAR WIRELESS AT
John Navas <http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cingular_Wireless_FAQ>