GAIT phone problems, T62U and 6340i, in Michigan

I'm hoping some more experienced & knowledgable people can help, or at least
shed some light on the problem.

First things first, I have a National GAIT plan, based in Metro Detroit. I
spend a lot of time in rural Eastern Upper Michigan (40 miles southeast of
Sault Ste. Marie), and analog is the only signal available there. There is
typically 3 or 4 out of 5 bars analog signal strength on the T62U where I
stay, coming from a new Cellular One (US Cellular?) tower.

I first bought a factory refurbished SE T62U on Ebay, worked great in metro
Detroit area & just north in the Flint area (GSM signal), but north of there
(TDMA and/or analog signal, no GSM in spite of what the Cingular map shows),
just get a lot of fast busy signals, all the way north to where I stay. I
could not even dial 611 to get the local carriers customer service on the
T62U. I double checked my ESN (for TDMA/analog calls) with Cingular, they
had the correct ESN. (note: all of this area is shown to be included on the
National GAIT Map)

I borrowed a loaner Nokia 6340i from the Cingular store where I activated my
service, at their suggestion. Phone works great in all areas where there is
signal, GSM/TDMA/Analog. However, when I am in Sault Ste. Marie, MI, I pull
in a GSM signal from Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, and get nailed with roaming
charges. The 6340i does not have the ability to block out GSM like the T62U
can.

So, I purchase another factory refurbished T62U on Ebay, installed my SIM
card, called in the new ESN to Cingular customer service, and the phone
worked great on the local analog signal for a day. Next day, back to the
same old story, fast busy signals when I try to call out, and when someone
tries to call me, about 95% of the time it goes straight to my voice mail
(it has rang in and worked a couple of times). And I always have strong
signal.

Again, I call customer service, they check with their roaming department,
and come back with this answer: Cingular does not have a roaming agreement
with the local US Cellular/Cellular One analog tower, that the tower they
are detecting my T62U on is far away, owned by RBC (?) Communications (not
sure if I recalled that name correctly), that there is GSM service testing
going on in this area (very sparsely populated, doesn't make sense that GSM
would even be considered to be installed in this area!), and that there is
nothing they can do, that I will not be able use either the T62U or the
6340i in this area. I explained politely to the customer service rep that
the 'expert' in the roaming department cannot be correct, as the 6340i works
perfectly on the local analog signal all over the area, and that it has to
be coming from the local US Cellular/Cellular One tower, as the signal
strength is always 5 to 7 bars (out of 7 bars on the 6340i), and that this
area never had usable signal until the local tower went up a few months ago.

Has anyone else had problems using the T62U on analog signal? Could it be
that I have gotten two bad T62U phones? (both were supposed to be factory
refurbished, and I bought them both from reputable Ebay sellers)

Does Cingular have any special problems with the T62U's ?

I've read that the 6340i may have better signal reception capabilites, but
I've also read that the 6340i also frequently drops calls when transfering
from GSM to TDMA or Analog. One thing I have noticed with the 6340i is that
it seems to try to hold on to a tower's signal until it drops, then suddenly
there are 5-7 bars of signal from the next tower. I did not notice this
with the T62U

Any insite/feedback would be greatly appreciated.

---

› See More: GAIT phone problems, T62U and 6340i, in Michigan

There is a way to lock out GSM on the 6340i. It requires you to go into
field test mode and change one of the page settings (01-13 if my memory
serves me). Google '6340i field test' in alt.cellular.cingular and you'll
find alot of posts about this (many from me before I gave up Cingular when
my SIM card fried itself in my 6340i-made my Sprint 3588i F&C America my
only phone with better coverage and service).

Chris

"Scott McConkey" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I'm hoping some more experienced & knowledgable people can help, or at
> least
> shed some light on the problem.
>
> First things first, I have a National GAIT plan, based in Metro Detroit.
> I
> spend a lot of time in rural Eastern Upper Michigan (40 miles southeast of
> Sault Ste. Marie), and analog is the only signal available there. There
> is
> typically 3 or 4 out of 5 bars analog signal strength on the T62U where I
> stay, coming from a new Cellular One (US Cellular?) tower.
>
> I first bought a factory refurbished SE T62U on Ebay, worked great in
> metro
> Detroit area & just north in the Flint area (GSM signal), but north of
> there
> (TDMA and/or analog signal, no GSM in spite of what the Cingular map
> shows),
> just get a lot of fast busy signals, all the way north to where I stay. I
> could not even dial 611 to get the local carriers customer service on the
> T62U. I double checked my ESN (for TDMA/analog calls) with Cingular, they
> had the correct ESN. (note: all of this area is shown to be included on
> the
> National GAIT Map)
>
> I borrowed a loaner Nokia 6340i from the Cingular store where I activated
> my
> service, at their suggestion. Phone works great in all areas where there
> is
> signal, GSM/TDMA/Analog. However, when I am in Sault Ste. Marie, MI, I
> pull
> in a GSM signal from Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, and get nailed with
> roaming
> charges. The 6340i does not have the ability to block out GSM like the
> T62U
> can.
>
> So, I purchase another factory refurbished T62U on Ebay, installed my SIM
> card, called in the new ESN to Cingular customer service, and the phone
> worked great on the local analog signal for a day. Next day, back to the
> same old story, fast busy signals when I try to call out, and when someone
> tries to call me, about 95% of the time it goes straight to my voice mail
> (it has rang in and worked a couple of times). And I always have strong
> signal.
>
> Again, I call customer service, they check with their roaming department,
> and come back with this answer: Cingular does not have a roaming
> agreement
> with the local US Cellular/Cellular One analog tower, that the tower they
> are detecting my T62U on is far away, owned by RBC (?) Communications (not
> sure if I recalled that name correctly), that there is GSM service testing
> going on in this area (very sparsely populated, doesn't make sense that
> GSM
> would even be considered to be installed in this area!), and that there is
> nothing they can do, that I will not be able use either the T62U or the
> 6340i in this area. I explained politely to the customer service rep that
> the 'expert' in the roaming department cannot be correct, as the 6340i
> works
> perfectly on the local analog signal all over the area, and that it has to
> be coming from the local US Cellular/Cellular One tower, as the signal
> strength is always 5 to 7 bars (out of 7 bars on the 6340i), and that this
> area never had usable signal until the local tower went up a few months
> ago.
>
> Has anyone else had problems using the T62U on analog signal? Could it be
> that I have gotten two bad T62U phones? (both were supposed to be factory
> refurbished, and I bought them both from reputable Ebay sellers)
>
> Does Cingular have any special problems with the T62U's ?
>
> I've read that the 6340i may have better signal reception capabilites, but
> I've also read that the 6340i also frequently drops calls when transfering
> from GSM to TDMA or Analog. One thing I have noticed with the 6340i is
> that
> it seems to try to hold on to a tower's signal until it drops, then
> suddenly
> there are 5-7 bars of signal from the next tower. I did not notice this
> with the T62U
>
> Any insite/feedback would be greatly appreciated.
>
>

Thanks for the feedback, I definately think the 6340i has better receiption
than the t62u, and I'll track down the 6340i field test programming on
Google




"Scott McConkey" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I'm hoping some more experienced & knowledgable people can help, or at
least
> shed some light on the problem.
>
> First things first, I have a National GAIT plan, based in Metro Detroit.
I
> spend a lot of time in rural Eastern Upper Michigan (40 miles southeast of
> Sault Ste. Marie), and analog is the only signal available there. There
is
> typically 3 or 4 out of 5 bars analog signal strength on the T62U where I
> stay, coming from a new Cellular One (US Cellular?) tower.
>
> I first bought a factory refurbished SE T62U on Ebay, worked great in
metro
> Detroit area & just north in the Flint area (GSM signal), but north of
there
> (TDMA and/or analog signal, no GSM in spite of what the Cingular map
shows),
> just get a lot of fast busy signals, all the way north to where I stay. I
> could not even dial 611 to get the local carriers customer service on the
> T62U. I double checked my ESN (for TDMA/analog calls) with Cingular, they
> had the correct ESN. (note: all of this area is shown to be included on
the
> National GAIT Map)
>
> I borrowed a loaner Nokia 6340i from the Cingular store where I activated
my
> service, at their suggestion. Phone works great in all areas where there
is
> signal, GSM/TDMA/Analog. However, when I am in Sault Ste. Marie, MI, I
pull
> in a GSM signal from Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, and get nailed with
roaming
> charges. The 6340i does not have the ability to block out GSM like the
T62U
> can.
>
> So, I purchase another factory refurbished T62U on Ebay, installed my SIM
> card, called in the new ESN to Cingular customer service, and the phone
> worked great on the local analog signal for a day. Next day, back to the
> same old story, fast busy signals when I try to call out, and when someone
> tries to call me, about 95% of the time it goes straight to my voice mail
> (it has rang in and worked a couple of times). And I always have strong
> signal.
>
> Again, I call customer service, they check with their roaming department,
> and come back with this answer: Cingular does not have a roaming
agreement
> with the local US Cellular/Cellular One analog tower, that the tower they
> are detecting my T62U on is far away, owned by RBC (?) Communications (not
> sure if I recalled that name correctly), that there is GSM service testing
> going on in this area (very sparsely populated, doesn't make sense that
GSM
> would even be considered to be installed in this area!), and that there is
> nothing they can do, that I will not be able use either the T62U or the
> 6340i in this area. I explained politely to the customer service rep that
> the 'expert' in the roaming department cannot be correct, as the 6340i
works
> perfectly on the local analog signal all over the area, and that it has to
> be coming from the local US Cellular/Cellular One tower, as the signal
> strength is always 5 to 7 bars (out of 7 bars on the 6340i), and that this
> area never had usable signal until the local tower went up a few months
ago.
>
> Has anyone else had problems using the T62U on analog signal? Could it be
> that I have gotten two bad T62U phones? (both were supposed to be factory
> refurbished, and I bought them both from reputable Ebay sellers)
>
> Does Cingular have any special problems with the T62U's ?
>
> I've read that the 6340i may have better signal reception capabilites, but
> I've also read that the 6340i also frequently drops calls when transfering
> from GSM to TDMA or Analog. One thing I have noticed with the 6340i is
that
> it seems to try to hold on to a tower's signal until it drops, then
suddenly
> there are 5-7 bars of signal from the next tower. I did not notice this
> with the T62U
>
> Any insite/feedback would be greatly appreciated.
>
>