FAQ: Don't ATTWS and Cingular subscribers now have the same coverage?

Q: Don't ATTWS and Cingular subscribers now have the same coverage?
A: Yes and no.

Post-merger Cingular still has two separate networks, the old ATTWS (blue)
network and the old Cingular (orange) network. While both ATTWS and Cingular
customers can now freely roam on the other network, thus given all subscribers
the same coverage, frequency band issues aside, the difference is that such
roaming can only happen when there is no "usable" home network signal, and a
"usable" signal can actually be pretty crappy.

In other words, ATTWS (blue) handsets will only roam on the Cingular (orange)
network if there is no "usable" ATTWS (blue) network signal, and vice versa,
even with ENS. Thus in any given location a blue handset may get much better
service (on the blue network) than an orange handset (given a "usable" orange
signal), and vice versa.

The new Cingular ENS handsets and Cingular (orange) 64K SIMs (if you have
both) make it possible for Cingular to manually change your "home" network (to
blue or orange) OTA (over the air), thus giving subscribers the better of the
two networks until the two networks are actually integrated. However, even
with ENS, the handset still *isn't* able to automatically select the better
network signal -- GSM roaming rules still apply.

---

› See More: FAQ: Don't ATTWS and Cingular subscribers now have the same coverage?

My understanding is that once blue always blue and once orange only orange.
The IRDB determines the phones choices and what order to access towers.I was
told by a very knowledgable tech that the customer is better of with the 32
K SIM cards than the new 64 K for this reason.
"John Navas" <[email protected]> wrote in message
newsFfKe.8363$p%[email protected]...
> Q: Don't ATTWS and Cingular subscribers now have the same coverage?
> A: Yes and no.
>
> Post-merger Cingular still has two separate networks, the old ATTWS (blue)
> network and the old Cingular (orange) network. While both ATTWS and
> Cingular
> customers can now freely roam on the other network, thus given all
> subscribers
> the same coverage, frequency band issues aside, the difference is that
> such
> roaming can only happen when there is no "usable" home network signal, and
> a
> "usable" signal can actually be pretty crappy.
>
> In other words, ATTWS (blue) handsets will only roam on the Cingular
> (orange)
> network if there is no "usable" ATTWS (blue) network signal, and vice
> versa,
> even with ENS. Thus in any given location a blue handset may get much
> better
> service (on the blue network) than an orange handset (given a "usable"
> orange
> signal), and vice versa.
>
> The new Cingular ENS handsets and Cingular (orange) 64K SIMs (if you have
> both) make it possible for Cingular to manually change your "home" network
> (to
> blue or orange) OTA (over the air), thus giving subscribers the better of
> the
> two networks until the two networks are actually integrated. However,
> even
> with ENS, the handset still *isn't* able to automatically select the
> better
> network signal -- GSM roaming rules still apply.
>

What you've heard isn't true. What I posted is correct.

In <yUSKe.91$tB5.85@okepread06> on Thu, 11 Aug 2005 20:26:23 -0500,
"Alcoholic" <[email protected]> wrote:

>My understanding is that once blue always blue and once orange only orange.
>The IRDB determines the phones choices and what order to access towers.I was
>told by a very knowledgable tech that the customer is better of with the 32
>K SIM cards than the new 64 K for this reason.
>"John Navas" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>newsFfKe.8363$p%[email protected]...
>> Q: Don't ATTWS and Cingular subscribers now have the same coverage?
>> A: Yes and no.
>>
>> Post-merger Cingular still has two separate networks, the old ATTWS (blue)
>> network and the old Cingular (orange) network. While both ATTWS and
>> Cingular
>> customers can now freely roam on the other network, thus given all
>> subscribers
>> the same coverage, frequency band issues aside, the difference is that
>> such
>> roaming can only happen when there is no "usable" home network signal, and
>> a
>> "usable" signal can actually be pretty crappy.
>>
>> In other words, ATTWS (blue) handsets will only roam on the Cingular
>> (orange)
>> network if there is no "usable" ATTWS (blue) network signal, and vice
>> versa,
>> even with ENS. Thus in any given location a blue handset may get much
>> better
>> service (on the blue network) than an orange handset (given a "usable"
>> orange
>> signal), and vice versa.
>>
>> The new Cingular ENS handsets and Cingular (orange) 64K SIMs (if you have
>> both) make it possible for Cingular to manually change your "home" network
>> (to
>> blue or orange) OTA (over the air), thus giving subscribers the better of
>> the
>> two networks until the two networks are actually integrated. However,
>> even
>> with ENS, the handset still *isn't* able to automatically select the
>> better
>> network signal -- GSM roaming rules still apply.
>>
>

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

Well what I have personally seen is that a individual that is balanced blue
and is in a location that only has orange towers is pretty much up a creek.
We can balance them to 1 network or the other but say in this situation if
we balance them orange and they get in a different location that is
predominately blue they will get very poor service.
I have seen thru MTI program a customer sitting on top of blue tower and
balanced orange and only getting 1-2 bars or the worst situation is the
phone may pick up the signal, say 4 bars, but the calls will drop because
there are so many people balanced blue that they get bounced off of the
tower due to the load balancing.

"John Navas" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:BeWKe.8816$p%[email protected]...
> What you've heard isn't true. What I posted is correct.
>
> In <yUSKe.91$tB5.85@okepread06> on Thu, 11 Aug 2005 20:26:23 -0500,
> "Alcoholic" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>My understanding is that once blue always blue and once orange only
>>orange.
>>The IRDB determines the phones choices and what order to access towers.I
>>was
>>told by a very knowledgable tech that the customer is better of with the
>>32
>>K SIM cards than the new 64 K for this reason.
>>"John Navas" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>>newsFfKe.8363$p%[email protected]...
>>> Q: Don't ATTWS and Cingular subscribers now have the same coverage?
>>> A: Yes and no.
>>>
>>> Post-merger Cingular still has two separate networks, the old ATTWS
>>> (blue)
>>> network and the old Cingular (orange) network. While both ATTWS and
>>> Cingular
>>> customers can now freely roam on the other network, thus given all
>>> subscribers
>>> the same coverage, frequency band issues aside, the difference is that
>>> such
>>> roaming can only happen when there is no "usable" home network signal,
>>> and
>>> a
>>> "usable" signal can actually be pretty crappy.
>>>
>>> In other words, ATTWS (blue) handsets will only roam on the Cingular
>>> (orange)
>>> network if there is no "usable" ATTWS (blue) network signal, and vice
>>> versa,
>>> even with ENS. Thus in any given location a blue handset may get much
>>> better
>>> service (on the blue network) than an orange handset (given a "usable"
>>> orange
>>> signal), and vice versa.
>>>
>>> The new Cingular ENS handsets and Cingular (orange) 64K SIMs (if you
>>> have
>>> both) make it possible for Cingular to manually change your "home"
>>> network
>>> (to
>>> blue or orange) OTA (over the air), thus giving subscribers the better
>>> of
>>> the
>>> two networks until the two networks are actually integrated. However,
>>> even
>>> with ENS, the handset still *isn't* able to automatically select the
>>> better
>>> network signal -- GSM roaming rules still apply.
>>>
>>
>
> --
> Best regards, HELP FOR CINGULAR GSM & SONY ERICSSON PHONES:
> John Navas <http://navasgrp.home.att.net/#Cingular>

As I wrote, blue has free roaming on orange, and orange has free roaming on
blue. That doesn't mean that you will automatically get the better network,
only that you will get service.

With GSM, no connection is ever "bounced off" -- you either get a connection
or you don't. There is no dynamic "load balancing," only manual Homing to one
network or the other, and then only with ENS.

Read what I wrote more carefully -- it's correct.

In <qWXKe.104$tB5.7@okepread06> on Fri, 12 Aug 2005 02:09:45 -0500,
"Alcoholic" <[email protected]> wrote:

>Well what I have personally seen is that a individual that is balanced blue
>and is in a location that only has orange towers is pretty much up a creek.
>We can balance them to 1 network or the other but say in this situation if
>we balance them orange and they get in a different location that is
>predominately blue they will get very poor service.
> I have seen thru MTI program a customer sitting on top of blue tower and
>balanced orange and only getting 1-2 bars or the worst situation is the
>phone may pick up the signal, say 4 bars, but the calls will drop because
>there are so many people balanced blue that they get bounced off of the
>tower due to the load balancing.
>
>"John Navas" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>news:BeWKe.8816$p%[email protected]...
>> What you've heard isn't true. What I posted is correct.
>>
>> In <yUSKe.91$tB5.85@okepread06> on Thu, 11 Aug 2005 20:26:23 -0500,
>> "Alcoholic" <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>>>My understanding is that once blue always blue and once orange only
>>>orange.
>>>The IRDB determines the phones choices and what order to access towers.I
>>>was
>>>told by a very knowledgable tech that the customer is better of with the
>>>32
>>>K SIM cards than the new 64 K for this reason.
>>>"John Navas" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>>>newsFfKe.8363$p%[email protected]...
>>>> Q: Don't ATTWS and Cingular subscribers now have the same coverage?
>>>> A: Yes and no.
>>>>
>>>> Post-merger Cingular still has two separate networks, the old ATTWS
>>>> (blue)
>>>> network and the old Cingular (orange) network. While both ATTWS and
>>>> Cingular
>>>> customers can now freely roam on the other network, thus given all
>>>> subscribers
>>>> the same coverage, frequency band issues aside, the difference is that
>>>> such
>>>> roaming can only happen when there is no "usable" home network signal,
>>>> and
>>>> a
>>>> "usable" signal can actually be pretty crappy.
>>>>
>>>> In other words, ATTWS (blue) handsets will only roam on the Cingular
>>>> (orange)
>>>> network if there is no "usable" ATTWS (blue) network signal, and vice
>>>> versa,
>>>> even with ENS. Thus in any given location a blue handset may get much
>>>> better
>>>> service (on the blue network) than an orange handset (given a "usable"
>>>> orange
>>>> signal), and vice versa.
>>>>
>>>> The new Cingular ENS handsets and Cingular (orange) 64K SIMs (if you
>>>> have
>>>> both) make it possible for Cingular to manually change your "home"
>>>> network
>>>> (to
>>>> blue or orange) OTA (over the air), thus giving subscribers the better
>>>> of
>>>> the
>>>> two networks until the two networks are actually integrated. However,
>>>> even
>>>> with ENS, the handset still *isn't* able to automatically select the
>>>> better
>>>> network signal -- GSM roaming rules still apply.
>>>>
>>>
>>
>> --
>> Best regards, HELP FOR CINGULAR GSM & SONY ERICSSON PHONES:
>> John Navas <http://navasgrp.home.att.net/#Cingular>
>

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

John

Does what you've said "blue has free roaming on orange, and orange has free
roaming on
blue" also apply to TDMA or is it GSM only.

Thank you,

CS

"John Navas" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:U1YKe.8846$p%[email protected]...
> As I wrote, blue has free roaming on orange, and orange has free roaming
> on
> blue. That doesn't mean that you will automatically get the better
> network,
> only that you will get service.
>
> With GSM, no connection is ever "bounced off" -- you either get a
> connection
> or you don't. There is no dynamic "load balancing," only manual Homing to
> one
> network or the other, and then only with ENS.
>
> Read what I wrote more carefully -- it's correct.
>
> In <qWXKe.104$tB5.7@okepread06> on Fri, 12 Aug 2005 02:09:45 -0500,
> "Alcoholic" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>Well what I have personally seen is that a individual that is balanced
>>blue
>>and is in a location that only has orange towers is pretty much up a
>>creek.
>>We can balance them to 1 network or the other but say in this situation if
>>we balance them orange and they get in a different location that is
>>predominately blue they will get very poor service.
>> I have seen thru MTI program a customer sitting on top of blue tower and
>>balanced orange and only getting 1-2 bars or the worst situation is the
>>phone may pick up the signal, say 4 bars, but the calls will drop because
>>there are so many people balanced blue that they get bounced off of the
>>tower due to the load balancing.
>>
>>"John Navas" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>>news:BeWKe.8816$p%[email protected]...
>>> What you've heard isn't true. What I posted is correct.
>>>
>>> In <yUSKe.91$tB5.85@okepread06> on Thu, 11 Aug 2005 20:26:23 -0500,
>>> "Alcoholic" <[email protected]> wrote:
>>>
>>>>My understanding is that once blue always blue and once orange only
>>>>orange.
>>>>The IRDB determines the phones choices and what order to access towers.I
>>>>was
>>>>told by a very knowledgable tech that the customer is better of with the
>>>>32
>>>>K SIM cards than the new 64 K for this reason.
>>>>"John Navas" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>>>>newsFfKe.8363$p%[email protected]...
>>>>> Q: Don't ATTWS and Cingular subscribers now have the same coverage?
>>>>> A: Yes and no.
>>>>>
>>>>> Post-merger Cingular still has two separate networks, the old ATTWS
>>>>> (blue)
>>>>> network and the old Cingular (orange) network. While both ATTWS and
>>>>> Cingular
>>>>> customers can now freely roam on the other network, thus given all
>>>>> subscribers
>>>>> the same coverage, frequency band issues aside, the difference is that
>>>>> such
>>>>> roaming can only happen when there is no "usable" home network signal,
>>>>> and
>>>>> a
>>>>> "usable" signal can actually be pretty crappy.
>>>>>
>>>>> In other words, ATTWS (blue) handsets will only roam on the Cingular
>>>>> (orange)
>>>>> network if there is no "usable" ATTWS (blue) network signal, and vice
>>>>> versa,
>>>>> even with ENS. Thus in any given location a blue handset may get much
>>>>> better
>>>>> service (on the blue network) than an orange handset (given a "usable"
>>>>> orange
>>>>> signal), and vice versa.
>>>>>
>>>>> The new Cingular ENS handsets and Cingular (orange) 64K SIMs (if you
>>>>> have
>>>>> both) make it possible for Cingular to manually change your "home"
>>>>> network
>>>>> (to
>>>>> blue or orange) OTA (over the air), thus giving subscribers the better
>>>>> of
>>>>> the
>>>>> two networks until the two networks are actually integrated. However,
>>>>> even
>>>>> with ENS, the handset still *isn't* able to automatically select the
>>>>> better
>>>>> network signal -- GSM roaming rules still apply.
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> Best regards, HELP FOR CINGULAR GSM & SONY ERICSSON PHONES:
>>> John Navas <http://navasgrp.home.att.net/#Cingular>
>>
>
> --
> Best regards, HELP FOR CINGULAR GSM & SONY ERICSSON PHONES:
> John Navas <http://navasgrp.home.att.net/#Cingular>

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

In <Tu%[email protected]> on Fri, 12 Aug 2005
11:12:51 GMT, "CS" <[email protected]> wrote:

>John
>
>Does what you've said "blue has free roaming on orange, and orange has free
>roaming on
>blue" also apply to TDMA or is it GSM only.
>
>Thank you,
>
>CS

I should have made it clear that I was referring only to GSM -- sorry --
I don't know about "TDMA" (D-AMPS, IS-136).

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

John Navas wrote:

>[POSTED TO alt.cellular.attws - REPLY ON USENET PLEASE]
>
>In <Tu%[email protected]> on Fri, 12 Aug 2005
>11:12:51 GMT, "CS" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>
>
>>John
>>
>>Does what you've said "blue has free roaming on orange, and orange has free
>>roaming on
>>blue" also apply to TDMA or is it GSM only.
>>
>>Thank you,
>>
>>CS
>>
>>
>
>I should have made it clear that I was referring only to GSM -- sorry --
>I don't know about "TDMA" (D-AMPS, IS-136).
>
>
>
I would assume the case is the same for TDMA, but as Cingular is working
to phase it out, they may just leave all those systems alone as they
migrate everyone to GSM.

TH