Why won't Vodaphone work on my 6200?!?

So I'm currently in Amsterdam, eager to use the Vodaphone prepaid SIM card
which I couldn't use when I bought it last year because Cingular gave me a bad
unlock code and wouldn't give me a new one (but that's another story). I've
got an unlocked Nokia 6200, which supports 800/850/1800 MHz. I understand
that some carriers in Europe use 900 MHz, which this phone doesn't support,
but Vodaphone technical support assures me that they have full 1800MHz
coverage as well and this phone should work fine. Nonetheless, I can't see
the Vodaphone network with either the vodaphone SIM card or my home AT&T SIM
card. I can see KPN, T-Mobile, O2, and Orange. The SIM card works fine in
another phone, but other Vodaphone SIM cards I've tried won't work in this
phone (they work, they just can't see the Vodaphone network).

Any ideas why? I've asked Vodaphone if perhaps in this part of Amsterdam they
only have 900MHz coverage, but they insist that's not possible, there should
be full 1800MHz coverage as well. I've since but an Orange SIM card, but I'd
like to use the value I prepaid for on the Vodaphone card as well.

Thanks for a clue!

Bill
--
@@@@@@@ If my laptop battery is almost empty,
* @@@ * shouldn't my laptop be lighter?
*@@*
-\* [email protected]

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Bill Sheppard wrote:
> So I'm currently in Amsterdam, eager to use the Vodaphone prepaid SIM
> card which I couldn't use when I bought it last year because Cingular
> gave me a bad unlock code and wouldn't give me a new one (but that's
> another story). I've got an unlocked Nokia 6200, which supports
> 800/850/1800 MHz. I understand that some carriers in Europe use 900
> MHz, which this phone doesn't support, but Vodaphone technical
> support assures me that they have full 1800MHz coverage as well and
> this phone should work fine. Nonetheless, I can't see the Vodaphone
> network with either the vodaphone SIM card or my home AT&T SIM card.
> I can see KPN, T-Mobile, O2, and Orange. The SIM card works fine in
> another phone, but other Vodaphone SIM cards I've tried won't work in
> this phone (they work, they just can't see the Vodaphone network).
>
> Any ideas why? I've asked Vodaphone if perhaps in this part of
> Amsterdam they only have 900MHz coverage, but they insist that's not
> possible, there should be full 1800MHz coverage as well. I've since
> but an Orange SIM card, but I'd like to use the value I prepaid for
> on the Vodaphone card as well.
>
> Thanks for a clue!

Have you asked Vodafone if the IMEI number is blocked from their network?

Ben
--
I'm not just a number. To many, I'm known as a String...

I was trying to use my 6200 in Europe this summer with pre-paid SIM
cards in Italy, Greece, and Switzerland and it was really really flaky,
even with carriers that were supposedly exclusively 1800. In general, it
seemed to work ok in big cities, but would not work at all away from
them, even though people around me were chatting away. A friend of mine
had a Sony Ericsson that was also 1800 without 900, and using the same
pre-paid SIM many times his would work great while I had no signal at all.

I never found any explanation, but I would be very interested in hearing
one.

Everybody raves about the reception on the 6200, but I find it to be
pretty bad here in Seattle, and it was absolutely horrific in Europe.

Bill Sheppard wrote:
> So I'm currently in Amsterdam, eager to use the Vodaphone prepaid SIM card
> which I couldn't use when I bought it last year because Cingular gave me a bad
> unlock code and wouldn't give me a new one (but that's another story). I've
> got an unlocked Nokia 6200, which supports 800/850/1800 MHz. I understand
> that some carriers in Europe use 900 MHz, which this phone doesn't support,
> but Vodaphone technical support assures me that they have full 1800MHz
> coverage as well and this phone should work fine. Nonetheless, I can't see
> the Vodaphone network with either the vodaphone SIM card or my home AT&T SIM
> card. I can see KPN, T-Mobile, O2, and Orange. The SIM card works fine in
> another phone, but other Vodaphone SIM cards I've tried won't work in this
> phone (they work, they just can't see the Vodaphone network).
>
> Any ideas why? I've asked Vodaphone if perhaps in this part of Amsterdam they
> only have 900MHz coverage, but they insist that's not possible, there should
> be full 1800MHz coverage as well. I've since but an Orange SIM card, but I'd
> like to use the value I prepaid for on the Vodaphone card as well.
>
> Thanks for a clue!
>
> Bill