Home Zip & Signal, V551

Situation.
A co-worker and myself share an office at work. We sit about 5 feet apart,
and both use Cingular and both have Moto. V551s. He gets a steady 4 to 5
bars. I have 2 phones (family share) that both get an unsteady 1 to 2 bars,
which sometimes will go up to 4 bars for short periods of time.

Questions.
His phone is registered in a zip code about 18 miles North of where we work.
Mine is registered in a zip code about 28 miles south of work. Does your
home zip code that you give to Cingular when you sign up have anything to do
with receiving a signal?

Any other ideas as to what is going on, or what to do?

It does not seem to be a phone problem since both of my phones behave the
same. I have tried turning them off for a minute or two, then back on to
search for the closest tower.

Mox

---

› See More: Home Zip & Signal, V551

"Mox 13" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> Situation.
> A co-worker and myself share an office at work. We sit about 5 feet apart,
> and both use Cingular and both have Moto. V551s. He gets a steady 4 to 5
> bars. I have 2 phones (family share) that both get an unsteady 1 to 2 bars,
> which sometimes will go up to 4 bars for short periods of time.
>
> Questions.
> His phone is registered in a zip code about 18 miles North of where we work.
> Mine is registered in a zip code about 28 miles south of work. Does your
> home zip code that you give to Cingular when you sign up have anything to do
> with receiving a signal?
>
> Any other ideas as to what is going on, or what to do?
>
> It does not seem to be a phone problem since both of my phones behave the
> same. I have tried turning them off for a minute or two, then back on to
> search for the closest tower.
>
> Mox
>
>

Could be the firmware on your phones.

It is alleged that Mox 13 claimed:

> Questions.
> His phone is registered in a zip code about 18 miles North of where we work.
> Mine is registered in a zip code about 28 miles south of work. Does your
> home zip code that you give to Cingular when you sign up have anything to do
> with receiving a signal?

I doubt it, but it might be how recently they were activated or
updated. With Verizon you can, from the phone, tell the system to send
your phone an updated system/tower (PRI) list. But with Cingular, you
need to have customer service push it to your phone instead.

--
Jeffrey Kaplan www.gordol.org
The from userid is killfiled Send personal mail to gordol

"You know, I used to think it was awful that life was so unfair. Then
I thought, wouldn't it be much worse if life were fair and all the
terrible things that happen to us come because we actually deserve
them. So now I take great comfort in the general hostility and
unfairness of the universe." (Marcus Cole, B5 "A Late Delivery From
Avalon")

"Pygmy Puffs" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:Yvbdf.4958$nh2.1486@fed1read01...

"Mox 13" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Situation.
> A co-worker and myself share an office at work. We sit about 5 feet apart,
> and both use Cingular and both have Moto. V551s. He gets a steady 4 to 5
> bars. I have 2 phones (family share) that both get an unsteady 1 to 2
> bars,
> which sometimes will go up to 4 bars for short periods of time.
>
> Questions.
> His phone is registered in a zip code about 18 miles North of where we
> work.
> Mine is registered in a zip code about 28 miles south of work. Does your
> home zip code that you give to Cingular when you sign up have anything to
> do
> with receiving a signal?
>
> Any other ideas as to what is going on, or what to do?
>
> It does not seem to be a phone problem since both of my phones behave the
> same. I have tried turning them off for a minute or two, then back on to
> search for the closest tower.
>
> Mox
>
>

Could be the firmware on your phones.

The phones were purchased through Cingular about 2 weeks ago. The firmware
is R472_G_08.18.40R. My co-worker's phone is about a year old. Seems like
mine should be doing better than his.

Mox

Mox 13 <[email protected]> wrote:
> Situation.
> A co-worker and myself share an office at work. We sit about 5 feet apart,
> and both use Cingular and both have Moto. V551s. He gets a steady 4 to 5
> bars. I have 2 phones (family share) that both get an unsteady 1 to 2 bars,
> which sometimes will go up to 4 bars for short periods of time.

Was his, or yours, AT&T Wireless before the merger?
That would make you "homed" to different networks.

---
Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley (Lake County) CA USA 38.8,-122.5

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

In <[email protected]> on Sat, 12 Nov 2005 04:55:20 +0000 (UTC),
[email protected] wrote:

>Mox 13 <[email protected]> wrote:
>> Situation.
>> A co-worker and myself share an office at work. We sit about 5 feet apart,
>> and both use Cingular and both have Moto. V551s. He gets a steady 4 to 5
>> bars. I have 2 phones (family share) that both get an unsteady 1 to 2 bars,
>> which sometimes will go up to 4 bars for short periods of time.
>
>Was his, or yours, AT&T Wireless before the merger?
>That would make you "homed" to different networks.

Or Homed to different networks even if both are "orange" Cingular handsets
with ENS.

If the weaker handset is "orange" (Cingular) with a 64K SIM (marked on the SIM
itself), call Customer Care, ask for Tech Support (to have the Home network
changed), and then ask to have it Homed to the other network.

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

<[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Mox 13 <[email protected]> wrote:
>> Situation.
>> A co-worker and myself share an office at work. We sit about 5 feet
>> apart,
>> and both use Cingular and both have Moto. V551s. He gets a steady 4 to 5
>> bars. I have 2 phones (family share) that both get an unsteady 1 to 2
>> bars,
>> which sometimes will go up to 4 bars for short periods of time.
>
> Was his, or yours, AT&T Wireless before the merger?
> That would make you "homed" to different networks.
>
> ---
> Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley (Lake County) CA USA 38.8,-122.5
>

BINGO! I think we may have a winner. I am pretty sure he said he was
recently transitioned from AT&T to Cingular. I will check Monday.

Thanks.
Mox

"John Navas" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> [POSTED TO alt.cellular.cingular - REPLY ON USENET PLEASE]
>
> In <[email protected]> on Sat, 12 Nov 2005 04:55:20 +0000 (UTC),
> [email protected] wrote:
>
>>Mox 13 <[email protected]> wrote:
>>> Situation.
>>> A co-worker and myself share an office at work. We sit about 5 feet
>>> apart,
>>> and both use Cingular and both have Moto. V551s. He gets a steady 4 to 5
>>> bars. I have 2 phones (family share) that both get an unsteady 1 to 2
>>> bars,
>>> which sometimes will go up to 4 bars for short periods of time.
>>
>>Was his, or yours, AT&T Wireless before the merger?
>>That would make you "homed" to different networks.
>
> Or Homed to different networks even if both are "orange" Cingular handsets
> with ENS.
>
> If the weaker handset is "orange" (Cingular) with a 64K SIM (marked on the
> SIM
> itself), call Customer Care, ask for Tech Support (to have the Home
> network
> changed), and then ask to have it Homed to the other network.
>
> --
> Best regards, HELP FOR CINGULAR GSM & SONY ERICSSON PHONES:
> John Navas <http://navasgrp.home.att.net/#Cingular>

Yes my phones have the orange 64K SIM. I do not know what his phone has. I
will check Monday. Although I am not sure what Homed means I think we may be
on the right track.

Thanks.

Mox

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

In <[email protected]> on Sat, 12 Nov 2005
13:55:46 GMT, "Mox 13" <[email protected]> wrote:

>"John Navas" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>news:[email protected]...

>> Or Homed to different networks even if both are "orange" Cingular handsets
>> with ENS.
>>
>> If the weaker handset is "orange" (Cingular) with a 64K SIM (marked on the
>> SIM
>> itself), call Customer Care, ask for Tech Support (to have the Home
>> network
>> changed), and then ask to have it Homed to the other network.

>Yes my phones have the orange 64K SIM. I do not know what his phone has. I
>will check Monday. Although I am not sure what Homed means I think we may be
>on the right track.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Q: Does ENS make for better coverage and/or connections?

A: 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>

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

In <[email protected]> on Sat, 12 Nov 2005
13:50:57 GMT, "Mox 13" <[email protected]> wrote:

><[email protected]> wrote in message
>news:[email protected]...
>> Mox 13 <[email protected]> wrote:
>>> Situation.
>>> A co-worker and myself share an office at work. We sit about 5 feet
>>> apart,
>>> and both use Cingular and both have Moto. V551s. He gets a steady 4 to 5
>>> bars. I have 2 phones (family share) that both get an unsteady 1 to 2
>>> bars,
>>> which sometimes will go up to 4 bars for short periods of time.
>>
>> Was his, or yours, AT&T Wireless before the merger?
>> That would make you "homed" to different networks.

>BINGO! I think we may have a winner. I am pretty sure he said he was
>recently transitioned from AT&T to Cingular. I will check Monday.

If so, then he is probably Homed on "blue" and you are probably Homed on
"orange", which would explain the difference in signal. If you have a 64K
SIM, follow the procedure in my earlier post to ask to be Homed on "blue".
Note that it can take up to 24 hours for the change to be made, and that it
can help to power the phone off and then back on.

--
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]
>
> In <[email protected]> on Sat, 12 Nov 2005
> 13:50:57 GMT, "Mox 13" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>
>><[email protected]> wrote in message
>>news:[email protected]...
>>
>>>Mox 13 <[email protected]> wrote:
>>>
>>>>Situation.
>>>>A co-worker and myself share an office at work. We sit about 5 feet
>>>>apart,
>>>>and both use Cingular and both have Moto. V551s. He gets a steady 4 to 5
>>>>bars. I have 2 phones (family share) that both get an unsteady 1 to 2
>>>>bars,
>>>>which sometimes will go up to 4 bars for short periods of time.
>>>
>>>Was his, or yours, AT&T Wireless before the merger?
>>>That would make you "homed" to different networks.
>
>
>>BINGO! I think we may have a winner. I am pretty sure he said he was
>>recently transitioned from AT&T to Cingular. I will check Monday.
>
>
> If so, then he is probably Homed on "blue" and you are probably Homed on
> "orange", which would explain the difference in signal. If you have a 64K
> SIM, follow the procedure in my earlier post to ask to be Homed on "blue".
> Note that it can take up to 24 hours for the change to be made, and that it
> can help to power the phone off and then back on.
>

Being homed over to blue might help Mox's sig strength in the office to
match his coworker's. But coverage in his home will likely change. It
is difficult to know whether it will be better or worse without testing.
Mox may want to borrow his coworker's phone and test it out before
pulling the trigger on a "preferred network" change.

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

In <121120051118507678%[email protected]> on Sat, 12 Nov 2005
11:18:50 -0800, Otto Pylot <[email protected]> wrote:

>Let me jump in here with a question. I am an old AT&T Wireless customer
>and just transferred my SIM card this morning to a brand-new, unlocked
>v635. The SIM card is basically white with the AT&T logo on it so I can
>assume it is the 32k card.

ATTWS SIMs don't support ENS regardless of size.

>The new phone displays Cingular as the
>carrier whereas my old, locked Nokia 6200 displayed AT&T as the
>carrier. So far the reception seems to be comparable but I need to
>move about today to check. Should I bother getting "re-homed" to AT&T?

You are still homed on ATTWS. The display is different because the phone is
different.

--
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 Sat, 12 Nov 2005
22:37:37 GMT, cledus <[email protected]> wrote:

>John Navas wrote:

>> If so, then he is probably Homed on "blue" and you are probably Homed on
>> "orange", which would explain the difference in signal. If you have a 64K
>> SIM, follow the procedure in my earlier post to ask to be Homed on "blue".
>> Note that it can take up to 24 hours for the change to be made, and that it
>> can help to power the phone off and then back on.
>>
>
>Being homed over to blue might help Mox's sig strength in the office to
>match his coworker's. But coverage in his home will likely change. It
>is difficult to know whether it will be better or worse without testing.
> Mox may want to borrow his coworker's phone and test it out before
>pulling the trigger on a "preferred network" change.

Good point.

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

"John Navas" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> [POSTED TO alt.cellular.cingular - REPLY ON USENET PLEASE]
>
> In <[email protected]> on Sat, 12 Nov 2005
> 22:37:37 GMT, cledus <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>John Navas wrote:
>
>>> If so, then he is probably Homed on "blue" and you are probably Homed on
>>> "orange", which would explain the difference in signal. If you have a
>>> 64K
>>> SIM, follow the procedure in my earlier post to ask to be Homed on
>>> "blue".
>>> Note that it can take up to 24 hours for the change to be made, and that
>>> it
>>> can help to power the phone off and then back on.
>>>
>>
>>Being homed over to blue might help Mox's sig strength in the office to
>>match his coworker's. But coverage in his home will likely change. It
>>is difficult to know whether it will be better or worse without testing.
>> Mox may want to borrow his coworker's phone and test it out before
>>pulling the trigger on a "preferred network" change.
>
> Good point.
>
> --
> Best regards, HELP FOR CINGULAR GSM & SONY ERICSSON PHONES:
> John Navas <http://navasgrp.home.att.net/#Cingular>

Well maybe I could have my phone changed and leave my wife's phone alone.
Then see which is best overall. I wonder if they will get upset if I have
one changed and later have it changed back.

Mox

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

In <[email protected]> on Sun, 13 Nov 2005
22:18:50 GMT, "Mox 13" <[email protected]> wrote:

>"John Navas" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>news:[email protected]...
>>
>> In <[email protected]> on Sat, 12 Nov 2005
>> 22:37:37 GMT, cledus <[email protected]> wrote:

>>>Being homed over to blue might help Mox's sig strength in the office to
>>>match his coworker's. But coverage in his home will likely change. It
>>>is difficult to know whether it will be better or worse without testing.
>>> Mox may want to borrow his coworker's phone and test it out before
>>>pulling the trigger on a "preferred network" change.
>>
>> Good point.

>Well maybe I could have my phone changed and leave my wife's phone alone.
>Then see which is best overall. I wonder if they will get upset if I have
>one changed and later have it changed back.

I wouldn't worry about that -- I've had Home networks changed a number of
times, and the only consideration has been getting the best performance for
the subscriber.

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