moto v180 tri-band limitation

Hi Folks,

The Motorola V180 is physically a quad band phone, but the carriers
limit it to tri-band. I presume this is done through the software.

Cingular describes it as . . .
"Operates on 850/900/1900 MHz GSM/GPRS networks "
http://onlinestored.cingular.com/web...&svcAreaId=SCR

T-Mobile describes it as . . .
"International phone: Tri-band (1900,1800,900 MHz)"
http://tmobile.com/products/overview...63&class=phone

What incentive would the carriers have to limit the phone to only
three bands? If I could convince Cingular to unlock the phone, would
I then be able to receive all four bands? Any advice would be much
appreciated. Thanks.

Ken

---

› See More: moto v180 tri-band limitation

I beleive that the V180 is only tri-band. It's customized for each carrier.
Cingular needs the 850MHz band.


"kjk" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Hi Folks,
>
> The Motorola V180 is physically a quad band phone, but the carriers
> limit it to tri-band. I presume this is done through the software.
>
> Cingular describes it as . . .
> "Operates on 850/900/1900 MHz GSM/GPRS networks "
> http://onlinestored.cingular.com/web...&svcAreaId=SCR
>
> T-Mobile describes it as . . .
> "International phone: Tri-band (1900,1800,900 MHz)"
> http://tmobile.com/products/overview...63&class=phone
>
> What incentive would the carriers have to limit the phone to only
> three bands? If I could convince Cingular to unlock the phone, would
> I then be able to receive all four bands? Any advice would be much
> appreciated. Thanks.
>
> Ken

In article <[email protected]>,
Richie <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>"kjk" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>news:[email protected]...
>> Hi Folks,
>>
>> The Motorola V180 is physically a quad band phone, but the carriers
>> limit it to tri-band. I presume this is done through the software.
>>
>> Cingular describes it as . . .
>> "Operates on 850/900/1900 MHz GSM/GPRS networks "
>>
>http://onlinestored.cingular.com/web...&svcAreaId=SCR
>>
>> T-Mobile describes it as . . .
>> "International phone: Tri-band (1900,1800,900 MHz)"
>> http://tmobile.com/products/overview...63&class=phone
>>
>> What incentive would the carriers have to limit the phone to only
>> three bands? If I could convince Cingular to unlock the phone, would
>> I then be able to receive all four bands? Any advice would be much
>> appreciated. Thanks.
>>
>> Ken
>
>I beleive that the V180 is only tri-band. It's customized for each carrier.
>Cingular needs the 850MHz band.

The hardware is indeed quad band. The AT&T version had all 4 bands
enabled, as do the non-branded ones that turn up on eBay and elsewhere.
A simply seem edit can enable the 4th band that is disabled by come
carriers.

On Tue, 3 May 2005 18:37:37 +0000 (UTC), [email protected] (Mike S.)
wrote:

>The hardware is indeed quad band. The AT&T version had all 4 bands
>enabled, as do the non-branded ones that turn up on eBay and elsewhere.
>A simply seem edit can enable the 4th band that is disabled by come
>carriers.

What incentive would the carriers have to limit the phone to only
three bands?

How would one go about editing the SIM?

In article <[email protected]>,
kjk <[email protected]> wrote:
>On Tue, 3 May 2005 18:37:37 +0000 (UTC), [email protected] (Mike S.)
>wrote:
>
>>The hardware is indeed quad band. The AT&T version had all 4 bands
>>enabled, as do the non-branded ones that turn up on eBay and elsewhere.
>>A simply seem edit can enable the 4th band that is disabled by come
>>carriers.
>
>What incentive would the carriers have to limit the phone to only
>three bands?

In the case of T-Mobile, they have sometimes disabled GSM850 (a band they
have no spectrum license for) in order to prevent the phone from roaming off
network.

>How would one go about editing the SIM?

I said _seem_, not SIM.

http://www.xlr8.us/hofo/

Per Mike S.:
>The hardware is indeed quad band. The AT&T version had all 4 bands
>enabled, as do the non-branded ones that turn up on eBay and elsewhere.
>A simply seem edit can enable the 4th band that is disabled by come
>carriers.

Is there a patch or something that will make a v180 work on all 4?
--
PeteCresswell

In article <[email protected]>,
(PeteCresswell) <[email protected]> wrote:
>Per Mike S.:
>>The hardware is indeed quad band. The AT&T version had all 4 bands
>>enabled, as do the non-branded ones that turn up on eBay and elsewhere.
>>A simply seem edit can enable the 4th band that is disabled by come
>>carriers.
>
>Is there a patch or something that will make a v180 work on all 4?

You could do seem edits to enable all bands, and then to change the text
to "Quad Band GSM" on the info screen:

http://www.xlr8.us/hofo

In article <[email protected]>,
(PeteCresswell) <[email protected]> wrote:
>Per Mike S.:
>>seem edits
>
>I figured that was some kind of typo - then it dawned on me to Google it and
>sure enough.... Sounds something like a firmware flash. Have I got it
>right?

Yes. A seem edit is editing and re-flashing a tiny portion of the firmware
where various settings are stored.

Per Mike S.:
>seem edits

I figured that was some kind of typo - then it dawned on me to Google it and
sure enough.... Sounds something like a firmware flash. Have I got it
right?
--
PeteCresswell

Mike S. wrote:
> In article <[email protected]>,
> (PeteCresswell) <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>Per Mike S.:
>>
>>>seem edits
>>
>>I figured that was some kind of typo - then it dawned on me to Google it and
>>sure enough.... Sounds something like a firmware flash. Have I got it
>>right?
>
> Yes. A seem edit is editing and re-flashing a tiny portion of the firmware
> where various settings are stored.

A "seem" is a small set of data bytes where the bits enable/disable
various functionality. Normally the user interface on the phone does not
have any way to change these bits, and "special" tools (such are used
for firmware flashing) are needed to edit them. A seem edit is not
really changing the firmware code, and is therefore unlikely to mangle
the phone.