Determine bands, locked state of a V188?

I have in my hand an old T-Mobile-branded V188 that's supposed to be
(at least) tri-band and unlocked. I'm planing on getting a Netcom
(Norway) SIM card for it to use in ... Norway.

Is there a way to determine the state of the phone, either by way of all
those numbers under the battery, or through the menus?

--
Bert Hyman | St. Paul, MN | [email protected]

---

› See More: Determine bands, locked state of a V188?

[email protected] (Mike S.) wrote in
news:[email protected]:

>
> In article <[email protected]>,
> Bert Hyman <[email protected]> wrote:
>>I have in my hand an old T-Mobile-branded V188 that's supposed to
>>be (at least) tri-band and unlocked. I'm planing on getting a
>>Netcom (Norway) SIM card for it to use in ... Norway.
>>
>>Is there a way to determine the state of the phone, either by way
>>of all those numbers under the battery, or through the menus?
>
> Most Motorola phones have a "phone information" or "other
> information" category in the SETTINGS menu which will give the
> firmware rev and various other capabilities, including the
> technology ("[insert number here] BAND GSM"). Also under the
> network settings you will sometimes have a menu for which bands are
> used; e.g. for a North American tri-band the choices might be
> "1900", "900/1800", or "AUTO" for the choices.

Looks like I can't get to the menus without a SIM card.

Oh well; considering what we've spent on the rest of the trip, a SIM
card will be the least of our expenses :-)

--
Bert Hyman | St. Paul, MN | [email protected]

You don't have to go to Norway to find out if it's locked. Just find a
friend who's a Cingular/ATT customer and try theirs.

Bert Hyman wrote:
> [email protected] (Mike S.) wrote in
> news:[email protected]:
>
>>
>> In article <[email protected]>,
>> Bert Hyman <[email protected]> wrote:
>>> I have in my hand an old T-Mobile-branded V188 that's supposed to
>>> be (at least) tri-band and unlocked. I'm planing on getting a
>>> Netcom (Norway) SIM card for it to use in ... Norway.
>>>
>>> Is there a way to determine the state of the phone, either by way
>>> of all those numbers under the battery, or through the menus?
>>
>> Most Motorola phones have a "phone information" or "other
>> information" category in the SETTINGS menu which will give the
>> firmware rev and various other capabilities, including the
>> technology ("[insert number here] BAND GSM"). Also under the
>> network settings you will sometimes have a menu for which bands are
>> used; e.g. for a North American tri-band the choices might be
>> "1900", "900/1800", or "AUTO" for the choices.
>
> Looks like I can't get to the menus without a SIM card.
>
> Oh well; considering what we've spent on the rest of the trip, a SIM
> card will be the least of our expenses :-)

On Mon, 30 Apr 2007 12:51:38 -0700, SMS <[email protected]>
wrote in <[email protected]>:

>Bert Hyman wrote:
>> I have in my hand an old T-Mobile-branded V188 that's supposed to be
>> (at least) tri-band and unlocked. I'm planing on getting a Netcom
>> (Norway) SIM card for it to use in ... Norway.
>>
>> Is there a way to determine the state of the phone, either by way of all
>> those numbers under the battery, or through the menus?
>
>It's menu>settings>network>network setup. Without a SIM you can't get to
>the menu.
>
>The Motorola web site says that it's quad band. If it's only tri-band,
>then it would be 850/1800/1900

900/1800/1900 tri-band also exists.

>which is often of limited use in Europe
>and Asia, where the primary carriers use 900 MHz.

While quad-band or non-USA tri-band (900/1800/1900) are preferred, USA
tri-band (850/1800/1900) actually works well in most areas outside of
the USA -- there's far more 1800 coverage than you claim.

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

[email protected] (BruceR) wrote in
news:[email protected]:

> You don't have to go to Norway to find out if it's locked. Just
> find a friend who's a Cingular/ATT customer and try theirs.

Before I read your message, I'd wandered into a Cingular store to see
what a pre-paid "starter kit" would cost so I could play with the phone.

I ended up with a free starter kit and an additional free C139 "Go
Phone"; apparently they expect me to think so well of their product that
I'll bring in more customers. We'll see ...

At any rate, I find that the phone is unlocked and I'm now familiarizing
myself with it.

Now, if I could just find a way to make the musical startup and shutdown
sequences shut up :-)

> Bert Hyman wrote:
>> [email protected] (Mike S.) wrote in
>> news:[email protected]:
>>
>>>
>>> In article <[email protected]>,
>>> Bert Hyman <[email protected]> wrote:
>>>> I have in my hand an old T-Mobile-branded V188 that's supposed
>>>> to be (at least) tri-band and unlocked. I'm planing on getting a
>>>> Netcom (Norway) SIM card for it to use in ... Norway.
>>>>
>>>> Is there a way to determine the state of the phone, either by
>>>> way of all those numbers under the battery, or through the
>>>> menus?
>>>
>>> Most Motorola phones have a "phone information" or "other
>>> information" category in the SETTINGS menu which will give the
>>> firmware rev and various other capabilities, including the
>>> technology ("[insert number here] BAND GSM"). Also under the
>>> network settings you will sometimes have a menu for which bands
>>> are used; e.g. for a North American tri-band the choices might be
>>> "1900", "900/1800", or "AUTO" for the choices.
>>
>> Looks like I can't get to the menus without a SIM card.
>>
>> Oh well; considering what we've spent on the rest of the trip, a
>> SIM card will be the least of our expenses :-)
>
>



--
Bert Hyman | St. Paul, MN | [email protected]