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Cellular Phone Forum / Providers / Cingular / May 2005moto v180 tri-band limitation
Hi Folks, The Motorola V180 is physically a quad band phone, but the carriers limit it to tri-band. I presume this is done through the software. Cingular describes it as . . . "Operates on 850/900/1900 MHz GSM/GPRS networks " http://onlinestored.cingular.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ES_PHONES.jsp?leftMen uFlag=phone&storeId=14851&langId=-1&catalogId=14851&storeAlias=hlybmi&svcAreaId= SCR T-Mobile describes it as . . . "International phone: Tri-band (1900,1800,900 MHz)" http://tmobile.com/products/overview.asp?phoneid=230863&class=phone What incentive would the carriers have to limit the phone to only three bands? If I could convince Cingular to unlock the phone, would I then be able to receive all four bands? Any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks. Ken I beleive that the V180 is only tri-band. It's customized for each carrier. Cingular needs the 850MHz band. > Hi Folks, > [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > > Ken >> Hi Folks, >> [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] >I beleive that the V180 is only tri-band. It's customized for each carrier. >Cingular needs the 850MHz band. The hardware is indeed quad band. The AT&T version had all 4 bands enabled, as do the non-branded ones that turn up on eBay and elsewhere. A simply seem edit can enable the 4th band that is disabled by come carriers. >The hardware is indeed quad band. The AT&T version had all 4 bands >enabled, as do the non-branded ones that turn up on eBay and elsewhere. >A simply seem edit can enable the 4th band that is disabled by come >carriers. What incentive would the carriers have to limit the phone to only three bands? How would one go about editing the SIM? >>The hardware is indeed quad band. The AT&T version had all 4 bands >>enabled, as do the non-branded ones that turn up on eBay and elsewhere. [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] >What incentive would the carriers have to limit the phone to only >three bands? In the case of T-Mobile, they have sometimes disabled GSM850 (a band they have no spectrum license for) in order to prevent the phone from roaming off network. >How would one go about editing the SIM? I said _seem_, not SIM. http://www.xlr8.us/hofo/ Per Mike S.: >The hardware is indeed quad band. The AT&T version had all 4 bands >enabled, as do the non-branded ones that turn up on eBay and elsewhere. >A simply seem edit can enable the 4th band that is disabled by come >carriers. Is there a patch or something that will make a v180 work on all 4?  SignaturePeteCresswell >Per Mike S.: >>The hardware is indeed quad band. The AT&T version had all 4 bands [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > >Is there a patch or something that will make a v180 work on all 4? You could do seem edits to enable all bands, and then to change the text to "Quad Band GSM" on the info screen: http://www.xlr8.us/hofo Per Mike S.: >seem edits I figured that was some kind of typo - then it dawned on me to Google it and sure enough.... Sounds something like a firmware flash. Have I got it right? SignaturePeteCresswell >Per Mike S.: >>seem edits > >I figured that was some kind of typo - then it dawned on me to Google it and >sure enough.... Sounds something like a firmware flash. Have I got it >right? Yes. A seem edit is editing and re-flashing a tiny portion of the firmware where various settings are stored. >>Per Mike S.: >> [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > Yes. A seem edit is editing and re-flashing a tiny portion of the firmware > where various settings are stored. A "seem" is a small set of data bytes where the bits enable/disable various functionality. Normally the user interface on the phone does not have any way to change these bits, and "special" tools (such are used for firmware flashing) are needed to edit them. A seem edit is not really changing the firmware code, and is therefore unlikely to mangle the phone. Perhaps the carrier wants to save money by only including the parts and circuitry that are needed to work with their network. No, it is s/w. Tmobile doesn't want their customer roaming onto a Cingular 850 and vice versa. Saves them $$$ paying the roaming bills. Free to you, costly to them. > Perhaps the carrier wants to save money by only including the parts and > circuitry that are needed to work with their network. >No, it is s/w. >Tmobile doesn't want their customer roaming onto a Cingular 850 and vice >versa. Saves them $$$ paying the roaming bills. Free to you, costly to them. If I wanted to use the phone outside the US, I believe it would be better if it could function as a quad band. I believe I've read here that after you're on a plan for a number of months, the carrier will usually be willing to unlock the phone. If I could convince Cingular to unlock the phone, would I then be able to receive all four bands? Thanks. |
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