Should an unlocked phone from another vendor be able to receive MMS?

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mc - 21 Mar 2006 23:55 GMT

I have an unlocked Samsung phone (originally T-Mobile) that I'm using with
my Cingular SIM card.

Voice and text (SMS) work fine.

I understand that anything involving the Internet won't work because
T-Mobile's GPRS is different from Cingular's GPRS.

However... I thought MMS would work. What is actually happening is that I
sent a "picture message" from one of my phones (Cingular) to this one, with
the intent of using it as wallpaper. And although I can see that it is in
the inbox, I can't retrieve it. I get "Retrying..." ad nauseam.

Is this an expected artifact of the fact that this phone has T-Mobile's
firmware? Or should it work?

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Sarge - 22 Mar 2006 01:31 GMT

>I have an unlocked Samsung phone (originally T-Mobile) that I'm using with
>my Cingular SIM card.
[quoted text clipped - 11 lines]
> Is this an expected artifact of the fact that this phone has T-Mobile's
> firmware? Or should it work?

you have to call tech support and have them update your info to that new
phone.

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mc - 22 Mar 2006 01:39 GMT

>> Is this an expected artifact of the fact that this phone has T-Mobile's
>> firmware? Or should it work?
>
> you have to call tech support and have them update your info to that new
> phone.

Give them the IMEI of the new phone or something? The fact that it has
T-Mobile firmware doesn't matter?

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Wirelessjuan - 23 Mar 2006 04:31 GMT

No need to call tech support and ask them to push the settings to your
phone because it won't happen. go to this link and follow the
instructions for your phone. If you cannot find the exact model of
your phone pick one that is close and follow those setup instructions.

https://onlinecare.cingular.com/device-support/index.do

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mc - 23 Mar 2006 07:10 GMT

> No need to call tech support and ask them to push the settings to your
> phone because it won't happen. go to this link and follow the
> instructions for your phone. If you cannot find the exact model of
> your phone pick one that is close and follow those setup instructions.
>
> https://onlinecare.cingular.com/device-support/index.do

That's very useful. Unfortunately, T-Mobile's firmware, unlike Cingular's,
does not allow you to access these settings. (I've checked T-Mobile's web
site as well as Cingular's.)

Actually, a very helpful Cingular technician -- a young man who apparently
"has the hacker nature" as we used to say -- went through all this with me
last night. He tried to push settings to my phone, which is a model that
Cingular doesn't support (although they have some that are close). No
effect. He then went to T-Mobile's web site to try to find out more about
how to set it up, and he didn't get anywhere.

I was delighted to get that much help using a phone I didn't buy from
Cingular. He may have thought I was a new convert to Cingular from
T-Mobile, or possibly that I was a Brit who came over here with a triband
phone already in hand and subscribed to Cingular.

All I want to do is upload a picture and a ringtone into this phone. I'll
just buy a data cable and use the free download software from Samsung. For
all I know, there's also software to unlock the Internet settings. (Samsung
X495. Suggestions welcomed.)

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John Navas - 23 Mar 2006 19:25 GMT

>No need to call tech support and ask them to push the settings to your
>phone because it won't happen. ...

Actually it will *if* you have a supported phone.

Signature

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

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mc - 24 Mar 2006 05:40 GMT

> [POSTED TO alt.cellular.cingular - REPLY ON USENET PLEASE]
>
>>No need to call tech support and ask them to push the settings to your
>>phone because it won't happen. ...
>
> Actually it will *if* you have a supported phone.

And they were quite willing to try, but they can't push settings into a
Samsung X495 that has T-Mobile's firmware. Nor can the settings be made
manually on it. (They have never sold the X495 themselves, and apparently,
X497 is not close enough.)

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