Somewhat OT: What can break on a cell phone?

bars.

trip

don't

With RoHS where it is, doesn't that go without saying? Then again, my = also quite old Nokia 6015i is still going strong, original battery!

Heh, while googling about them, I saw a list of AT commands. Maybe you = can hack a serial/USB connection to it and run some diagnostics on the = modem?

Tim

--=20 Deep Friar: a very philosophical monk. Website:

Yup. That's why I was asking. Maybe someone knows stuff like "Oh, the connection over yonder tends to always come apart".

So was mine, until something happened. Maybe a local EMP event which is a possibility in my line of work.

Nah, I don't want to go quite that far.

--
Regards, Joerg

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On a sunny day (Sun, 11 Jul 2010 08:15:19 -0700) it happened Joerg wrote in :

My advice: Do not buy a phone locked to a specific carrier. I have an expensive Alcatel, was locked to Orange (carrier), they went belly up or fused into something else, no way to get the unlock codes. Also at that moment (it was a prepaid) my credit of about 25 guilders evaporated just like that. (Was way before the Euro). I have a Nokia, it was locked to Vodafone, but after 2 years I unlocked it. And I have a Nokia with internet etc, that I bought for more money, but is not locked and you can stick any card in it from any carrier, much better. Then I have some old Siemens types too... unlocked, you need to have more then one at any time. That Alcatel now is nothing more then an expensive organiser... Also because I tried connecting an external antenna to it, that sort of damaged the input stage so it only works close to a transmitter now. The manual did warn against touching the antenna input, I have to give them that,

I sort of think the whole thing is a ripoff, if you have internet on the phone, then you can use VOIP, but carriers block that as then they do not make money. So the better tech is there, but they block it, they really want to charge by the second, So from that POV maybe in the future the whole crap should change to VOIP over those fast networks.

In the US you can hardly avoid that.

evaporated just like that.

I will lose a whole lot more because the 30 minutes or so my $5 monthly fee buys are barely used. It just piled up over the years.

that,

the second,

Well, someone has to pay for all the towers and maintenance and so on. In the US SIM cards are not the normal modus operandi. You get a phone from the carrier and that's it. For people who talk a lot and use up the minutes a no-contract plan like what I have is great because the phones cost very little. Not free, but simple ones are $10-$20. You can't even buy a replacement battery for that. Way I see it, the fact that I am reachable via phone is worth the $5/month.

--
Regards, Joerg

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No Chinatowns where you live? I can go to any number of little cell phone outlets and get pretty much any phone unlocked-- usually the asking price is around $25 cash. You can do it yourself too, but there is some risk of bricking the phone, depending on type.

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

--
"it's the network..."                          "The Journey is the reward"
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On a sunny day (Sun, 11 Jul 2010 09:27:51 -0700) it happened Joerg wrote in :

phone,

the second,

I pay xx Euro a month for mobile internet access for my laptop. That same SIM card fits in the mobile phone, but you cannot use VOIP with it.

Yes, funny world, I buy new phones too when the batteries lose capacity... for that reason.

On a sunny day (Sun, 11 Jul 2010 13:20:51 -0400) it happened Spehro Pefhany wrote in :

Yes I know 10 Euro in Rotterdam. You can also send it in.

To DIY you need a special cable sometimes...

I've been using a Nokia 3210e for about 10 years without any problems on the Orange network. I got it unlocked a couple of years ago so that I could test other SIMs I was using for data with GSM modules. I've just got right up to date with one of the new Dell Streak tablets.

Ok, I don't know the cell phone carriers in Canada but what would you do with an unlocked phone in the US? Most major carriers only offer the same monthly plans like usual with contract and then you get a phone for free anyway, or almost free if you want a really fancy one (which I never had a desire to have).

Anyhow, I just tried the phone out south of Highway 50 and there I was able to get a connection. Looks like some larger outage. But, of course, info about that is nowhere to be found on the compnies' sites.

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Regards, Joerg

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1: Take it to other countries with you, swap the SIM card (since pretty much all U.S. carriers have, let's say, "highly opportunistic" rates while travelling outside the U.S.), and still have access to all your same applications, contacts list, etc. Very nice compared to having two phones... 2: For people who use pre-paid plans, it's convenient to, e.g., sign up with AT&T, pay'em $30 or so for 3 months with some fixed number of minutes, and at the end of that term shop around who then has the best plan for the next 3 months (or whatever). This isn't really viable for businessmen who need stable incoming phone numbers, but for regular consumers (and in particular teens) it has a certain attraction.

With CDMA this doesn't really apply since of course, in the U.S., CDMA phones don't have SIM cards... and even now switching a phone between the two major CDMA carriers (Verizon & Sprint) is often a hassle.

The CDMA carriers have occasionally released a dual-mode CDMA & GSM phone, though, which has appeal as well. Basically scenario #1 up there applies... my mother does this, using Sprint here in the U.S. and Vodafone (GSM) when she's in New Zealand or jetsetting around.

---Joel

Couple ideas to try:

Can you put the phone in "test mode"?

Maybe you can reset it, or find the RSSI (signal strength) screen and do some experiments. Go outside, find a nearby Sprint tower, etc... See if it's really the phone, or maybe Sprint has made some recent changes to the network, and now you're sitting in a coverage black hole.?

If the latter, the phone should still operate normally at other locations (i.e., where Sprint has not made any network changes).

Now of course, I have no idea if Sprint did any cell splitting, or any other maintenance work (i.e., antenna downtilts, replacement of defective antennas, water in the coax, etc., etc..,) that may have led to your troubles... There are many things that can go wrong. (Even bad passive intermodulation as things on the tower vibrate in the wind!)...

The point is, most (if not all) of those things will be localized to a given tower, not the whole network. Move, and the problem should NOT move with you, if the culprit is a particular tower in the network.

And of course, we're just talking the RF path here, but that seems reasonable since you mentioned an apparent reduction in the number of bars you see. An actual RSSI reading from the phone would prove much more informative, but I'm not familiar with your particular handset.

If you happen to live in one of the areas where Sprint is rolling out its 4G network, you can bet workers were on the towers recently. Perhaps something got damaged or dislodged. Happens all the time.

Or, hey, it's an old phone. It's certainly possible its receiver is kaput.

Good luck!!

-mpm

When you go overseas (anyplace with a GSM network, which is just about everywhere most of us would want to go but Japan- and they seem to have 3GSM now) you buy a local SIM card and swap it out, saving tons of money. Some phones even have dual SIM cards, obviously they are not popular with the carriers where phone rates subsidize the purchase of handsets.

(22M download, so it might take a couple of seconds)

I don't see much saving domestically since all the plans I have access to include subsidized handset purchase, as you say. Even a Blackberry is almost free ($69) so teenagers frequently sport them. I don't have a contract now (havn't had one for a few years), so I _could_ switch anytime, but there's not enough saving going with another carrier to make it worthwhile. I guess if you lose or kill your handset it might be nice to buy another on eBay etc. and unlock it rather than getting tied into another 2 years of contract. I did that once with my trusty old T28.

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

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"it's the network..."                          "The Journey is the reward"
speff@interlog.com             Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com
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If you have a pricey tri-band phone.

You can now take the same phone number with you. But you are right, even a 3h service non-overlap can throw you a curve in business. Changing ISPs is easier, you fire it all up from a separate computer and switch the email forwarding only after it's all 100% up.

Mine is CDMA-only. In the US low-minute users like me don't have much of a choice. AFAIK when you need voice-only there are only T-Mobile and AT&T with major GSM networks and when I inquired their pre-paid deals didn't quite stack up. Also, there are some coverage issues around here. Well, if they don't repair the tower I'll be in that club as well now :-)

How's that for ditching the landline: A neighbor signed on the dotted line, IIRC that locked him in for two years, then found out that GSM at his house is between zero bars and one bar. Like what I have now. He had to mount a yagi on his roof so now he has a cell phone with a cord.

You'd also need a tri-band phone because the cell frequency ranges can be slightly different between countries.

I wonder, for voice-dialing does the phone then switch between Kiwi accent and north-western? :-)

--
Regards, Joerg

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Is there an antenna connector you could try an external antenna on?

I like their chutzpah with this:

So the question is, do these things really work? Well, they do in fact help in areas where the signal is existent but weak. Not recommended in areas where no signal at all exists.

;-)

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

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"it's the network..."                          "The Journey is the reward"
speff@interlog.com             Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com
Embedded software/hardware/analog  Info for designers:  http://www.speff.com

When we were in Italy one summer, I ran across some Brits who were confused when the phone menu told them to press the "pound" key, as their phone lacked a "£" symbol.

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

--
"it's the network..."                          "The Journey is the reward"
speff@interlog.com             Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com
Embedded software/hardware/analog  Info for designers:  http://www.speff.com

Thanks, cool! I always wanted a real signal strength indicator instead of those stupid bars. But I am going to try that after a slew of upcoming biz trips are over. Don't want to brick the phone a day before leaving town :-)

Well, I did that today. Turns out south of Hwy 50 I can get a signal and can call out on the cell phone. Not sure if the same signal strength though, can't remember how it was before.

Coincidentally we did get a smart-meter installed right around the time this happened. Didn't want it but PG&E foists them onto people around here. It's either take it or lose power. But AFAIK those work on 900MHz.

Thanks. At least it seems to work when far away from home. But old? One of my radios here is older than I am and still works. So does a fridge that's well over half a century old.

--
Regards, Joerg

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Yes, although "pricey" is kinda relative... you can get some very nice tri- or quad-bnad phones in the $100-$300 range used, for instance -- and for people already paying, e.g., $50-$100/mo for fancy "all you can eat" voice/text/data/etc. plans, the handset isn't a particularly significant cost.

When this was last discussed I seem to recall the deal was that even the least expensive prepaid plans had you ponying up >=$10/mo... whereas you're currently paying $5/mo, is it?

Most carriers at least give you a week or so grace period -- that's pretty poor that he was locked in immediately.

I was in a comparable situation when I moved from Albany to Corvallis some years ago, but since I was already something around a year into a two-year contract, there was no grace for me.

Although I ended up being OK with just a dipole rather than needing a Yagi -- a lot of the problem apparently was just foil insulation in the walls. (It was a rental.)

No, but the voicemail systems do! :-)

---Joel

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I would wager a fridge doesn't fall out of your pocket as often.... :)

Back in the 20's (maybe the early 30's?), my grandfather had this brilliant idea to open a Frigidaire store in rural Mississippi. Unfortunatly, he soon discovered most of his would-be customers didn't have electricity!!!

Still, he sold quite a few to be used as (better insulated?) ice boxes.

Ok, in that cost range it really doesn't matter. For this kind of money you can even buy a new one:

$15 every 90 days to be exact. That includes any and all fees, taxes and whatnot. This amount buys 83.3 airtime minutes. Which I typically do not use up so they have piled up over the years. They don't expire if you keep the account active.

I think that was in the days before CA mandated a 30-day back-out. Most business people then keep the service anyhow because it ties into all sorts of other features they need, or think they need.

We have the same problem. Foil-backed insulation even in inner walls.

In Europe I had a bilingual answering system. Had to. The voice in English had a distinct accent where a German-speaker could immediately pinpoint the originator to be from the city of Duesseldorf.

--
Regards, Joerg

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