Phone with other company's firmware

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mc - 18 Mar 2006 02:02 GMT

I bought an unlocked cellphone with T-Mobile's firmware. It works fine for
voice and text messages, but (as I anticipated) doesn't have some of the
other network functions. In particular, it can't download ringtones or
graphics from Cingular. (Don't worry, I tried one of the free samples; I
didn't waste any money.)

Is there a quick and simple way to give it full Cingular functionality?

I won't be dismayed if there isn't.

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mc - 18 Mar 2006 03:10 GMT

>I bought an unlocked cellphone with T-Mobile's firmware. It works fine for
>voice and text messages, but (as I anticipated) doesn't have some of the
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
>
> I won't be dismayed if there isn't.

Actually, I'm not sure it's working for text messages either.

The service center phone number is set the same on both phones. It must be
a setting stored in the SIM card.

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Sarge - 18 Mar 2006 05:23 GMT

did you call cingular tech support and have them activate the phone for sms
and mms? 1-800-801-1101.

>>I bought an unlocked cellphone with T-Mobile's firmware. It works fine
>>for voice and text messages, but (as I anticipated) doesn't have some of
[quoted text clipped - 10 lines]
> The service center phone number is set the same on both phones. It must
> be a setting stored in the SIM card.

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mc - 18 Mar 2006 05:47 GMT

> did you call cingular tech support and have them activate the phone for
> sms and mms? 1-800-801-1101.

Useful number. Thanks!

But the answer, right now, is that (having never text-messaged much before)
I had forgotten that I had all my phones set to "ADMIN TXT MSG ONLY" (a
Cingular free feature) in order to avoid spam. So they don't receive normal
text messages. They still get text messages from Cingular when I dial *MIN#
and things like that.

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Cliff - 18 Mar 2006 16:21 GMT

> > did you call cingular tech support and have them activate the phone for
> > sms and mms? 1-800-801-1101.
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
> text messages. They still get text messages from Cingular when I dial *MIN#
> and things like that.

That number is actually the exchange by mail department. they may
troubleshoot a fone but not as well as tier II tech support

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Sarge - 22 Mar 2006 13:55 GMT

>> "Sarge" <sarge@36db.com> wrote in message
> news:dvg20k$ro9$1@emma.aioe.org...
[quoted text clipped - 14 lines]
> That number is actually the exchange by mail department. they may
> troubleshoot a fone but not as well as tier II tech support

so how do you contact them? That number was the one they gave me at the
cingular store.

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John Navas - 22 Mar 2006 15:44 GMT

>> That number is actually the exchange by mail department. they may
>> troubleshoot a fone but not as well as tier II tech support
>
>so how do you contact them? That number was the one they gave me at the
>cingular store.

611. There is no direct number (that I know of) to "tier II tech support".
If the phone rep can't solve your problem, then your call should be escalated.

Signature

Best regards, SEE THE FAQ FOR CINGULAR WIRELESS AT
John Navas <http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cingular_Wireless_FAQ>

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Sarge - 23 Mar 2006 01:59 GMT

> [POSTED TO alt.cellular.cingular - REPLY ON USENET PLEASE]
>
[quoted text clipped - 12 lines]
> If the phone rep can't solve your problem, then your call should be
> escalated.

hmmm, ok..

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mc - 23 Mar 2006 04:17 GMT

>> 611. There is no direct number (that I know of) to "tier II tech
>> support".
>> If the phone rep can't solve your problem, then your call should be
>> escalated.

I actually got a lot of help from a Cingular tech person at that number last
night. He was not ultimately successful. I'm using a (formerly T-Mobile)
unlocked Samsung X495 on Cingular's network here and on Virgin Mobile's
network when I go to England. Here on Cingular, voice and text work fine
but MMS does not, nor do any Internet services. After making a lot of
effort, he concluded that the latter 2 problems are due to T-Mobile's
firmware in the phone and are not easily fixable.

That's OK with me, as I don't actually need those services. I have a bit of
use for them (to get pictures and ringtones) if they work, and that's all.

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