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Cellular Phone Forum / Providers / Cingular / September 200532k SIM Card - The Truth?
Greetings, Thanks again to everyone who responded to my question concerning purchasing a Motorola T720 (GSM) for use with Cingular. Yes, I did purchase the phone - it was a good deal - but now I have a question concerning what I was told by the proprietor of my local Cingular store here in town. First off, he told me that he didn't carry the 32k SIM cards anymore so I would have to find one on my own. That's no big deal - however, he also told me that I would not get good service using a phone with a 32k SIM card. He stated that the 32k card would not allow my phone to talk with all of the towers on the Cingular network (specifically the towers they acquired because of the merger with AT&T). Was he telling the truth, or is he just blowing smoke at me in order to convince me to purchase a new phone from him (and get sucked into another contract, which I don't want to do)? Thanks in advance for any words of wisdom. Cheers - Jonathan As I understand it, 64K SIMs do not improve your signal strength directly. However, if your problem is that Cingular has better signal than AT&T or viceversa in your area, then switching to a 64K SIM will allow Cingular to tell your phone which of the two networks it should prefer. As a result, your phone can be put on the strongest of the two networks, therefore giving your phone a better signal. > Greetings, > [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > > Cheers - Jonathan > Greetings, > [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > would have to find one on my own. That's no big deal - however, he also > told me that I would not get good service using a phone with a 32k SIM card. The question is moot. You should be using a 64K SIM in the Motorola T720 (GSM) on the Cingular network. Why would you even bother to look for a 32K SIM? If Cingular told you that the T720 wouldn't accept a 64K SIM, then the Cingular salesman LIED. We both used 64K SIMs in ours. -Dave >The question is moot. You should be using a 64K SIM in the Motorola T720 >(GSM) on the Cingular network. Why would you even bother to look for a 32K >SIM? If Cingular told you that the T720 wouldn't accept a 64K SIM, then the >Cingular salesman LIED. We both used 64K SIMs in ours. -Dave > > Actually, because the T720 doesn't support ENS, it won't make a difference if your SIM is 32k or 64k. He may have been confused about ENS not working in the T720, thinking it was the entire 64k SIM. TH > Actually, because the T720 doesn't support ENS, it won't make a > difference if your SIM is 32k or 64k. He may have been confused about > ENS not working in the T720, thinking it was the entire 64k SIM. If I understand what's being said, then, I should be able to get my old ATT V180 (which had a 32k SIM) unlocked & switch my new Cingular 64k SIM to it without any damage to either the phone or the SIM. Or am I missing something? It certainly would make my life saner for those times when I'm going somewhere a camera phone isn't allowed. Bill K >> Actually, because the T720 doesn't support ENS, it won't make a >> difference if your SIM is 32k or 64k. He may have been confused about [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] >V180 (which had a 32k SIM) unlocked & switch my new Cingular 64k SIM to it >without any damage to either the phone or the SIM. ... Correct.  SignatureBest regards, HELP FOR CINGULAR GSM & SONY ERICSSON PHONES: John Navas <http://navasgrp.home.att.net/#Cingular> The Truth is that the *only* difference between 32K and 64K Cingula SIMs is that the latter supports ENS *when* used with an ENS-capable device Since your T720 isn't ENS-capable, a 32K SIM will work *exactly* the same a a 64K SIM. Give that man a prize. Although they are a tad different. The 64k hol a much longer network list than the 32k and may or may not hold a fe more sms's. If your sim is set to prefer the weaker network, then ens won't hel you grab the stronger network. You can either enable manual networ selection, if your phone doesn't already have it. Or take the easy wa out and keep a working voicemail notification by calling cingular an requestion a color change. When you get a rep on the line and give you account info, ask to be transfered to level 2 support asap, becous level 1 can't help you. I unlocked the advanced features on my razr s I was able to half way test reception by changing networks even thoug it will switch back on it's own in around 3 minutes. I had them chang me from 410 (orange) to 380 (blue) and also cutt off half bit rate. Full bars and crystal clear reception with no half bit rate echos eve since. Tropical Haven Wrote: > >The question is moot. You should be using a 64K SIM in the Motorol > T720 [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > > T >Thanks again to everyone who responded to my question concerning purchasing >a Motorola T720 (GSM) for use with Cingular. Yes, I did purchase the [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] >convince me to purchase a new phone from him (and get sucked into another >contract, which I don't want to do)? He's probably just uninformed -- very few salespersons understand the real difference in SIMs. The Truth is that the *only* difference between 32K and 64K Cingular SIMs is that the latter supports ENS *when* used with an ENS-capable device. Since your T720 isn't ENS-capable, a 32K SIM will work *exactly* the same as a 64K SIM. An ENS-capable device (only available within the past year) with a 64K (ENS) SIM can be manually Homed OTA (over the air) by Cingular Tech Support (not Customer Care) to prefer either "orange" or "blue" which could be an advantage for you if "blue" signal is better than "orange" signal in your area. Regardless of SIM, your non-ENS T720 will be Homed on the "orange" (old Cingular) network. It will have free roaming on the "blue" (old ATTWS) network, but will select "orange" if there is any usable signal even if there's a much better "blue" signal. (That's basic GSM operation.) So *if* "blue" is better than "orange" in your area, then you may not get as good call quality as an ENS-capable phone Homed on "blue", but you will still have exactly the same network coverage. The two networks are expected to be merged into a single network by sometime next year, which will eliminate any need for or benefit from ENS. SignatureBest regards, HELP FOR CINGULAR GSM & SONY ERICSSON PHONES: John Navas <http://navasgrp.home.att.net/#Cingular> > Greetings, > [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > > Cheers - Jonathan See John's answer to this one....Copy it to your hard drive and paste it into a response to the question when it comes up again in a couple of days. It is the CORRECT answer to the question. ENS is for Cingular to use to reduce network load NOT to improve reception, and if the phone doesn't have ENS, a 64K SIM does zilch over a 32K. Mark A huge THANK YOU to everyone who replied to my post. Truly, helping is what groups like this are for, and I very much appreciate the assistance I have received here. I also contacted Motorola and Cingular customer support and got the same answer from both of them - the fact is a 64k SIM card will work in my T720G phone but I will not receive any added benefit from it not even extra space for phone book entries). Cingular even informed me that if they have a customer who has an older 32k SIM that goes bad, their standard answer is to send them to a local franchise and have them install a 64k card in its place. For what it's worth, I did purchase a brand new 32k SIM card for use in my phone, and I will have the local Cingular store program it. I can't really tell if the proprietor of the store actually knew this information and was just trying to push me into buying a new phone, or if he honestly didn't know. Either way, he talked himself out of my purchasing a new card from him at $35.00 and instead I got one for $6.00. His loss. Thanks again for everyone's help. Cheers - Jonathan > Greetings, > [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > > Cheers - Jonathan >Greetings, > [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > >Cheers - Jonathan He was having some fun at your expense. All the size on the SIM determines is how many phone numbers, and SMS messages can be stored in it. There are some issues with some very old SIM's (5 Volt), because few current phones support 5 Volt Sim's, however at this point, most 5 Volt SIMS are long past their design life, if you walk into a service provider store with one, it will generally be replaced without charge. Most 5 Volts SIMS are 2kb anyway. The function of the SIM relative to the network is to provide an ID to the service provider, No more, and no less. So whether it has 0kb or 100gb makes no difference to the service provider, all they care about is the ID on the SIM. Anything else is strictly optional features. So bigger SIM's allow more SMS messages, and phone book entries, period, end stop. The storage capacity is unrelated to the ability to connect to the network, period, end stop. I was actually using a 5 Volt SIM until a couple years ago. I asked my service provider to replace it so I could use a newer phone. They were only too happy to copy the contents into a new SIM, disable the old SIM, and enable the new one on their system. Anything else is strictly optional features. So bigger SIM's allow more SMS messages, and phone book entries, period, end stop. The storage capacity is unrelated to the ability to connect to the network, period, end stop. I was actually using a 5 Volt SIM until a couple years ago. I asked my service provider to replace it so I could use a newer phone. They were only too happy to copy the contents into a new SIM, disable the old SIM, and enable the new one on their system. You need to check your facts before you post matt. There is n difference in phone book entries, and the storage capacity ha everything to do with the connection to the network. The entire 32 difference of the 64k sims is used for nothing but load balancing There is a slight difference in amount of sms storage and fixed dia storage, but phone book storage is exactly the same. They are nothin more than a temporary fix during integration. They do not switch t the strongest signal, they stick to the home network until the signa is lost or very week. that's the whole reason behind having to get color change/network change, because if your house is in an area wher your home network is very week, the phone will hold on to that wee home network even if there is a different network tower across th street. I know, I just got moved from orange to blue after almost year of dropped calls at home when I knew from enabling manual networ selection, that blue would give me full bars. a picture is worth a thousand words..... [image http://img391.imageshack.us/img391/3148/71653873simdescription8zi.jpg] If you really want to know, check out the 4 or so 20 page threads o HOFO |
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