siemens S40 locks

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Frank - 23 Aug 2003 18:47 GMT

I bought a Siemens S40 in January and it worked fine in South America
and in Europe. Last week I went to Danemark and the phone locked, I
had to take the battery off and try again but it didn't work. Back in
the NY area I tried it with a T-mobile SIM card and I had again the
same problem, the phone locks.
I called Siemens service and they said that it is T-mobile's fault.
They claim that the phone is fine.
Does anybody have an idea of what to do with this stupid phone?
In any case, don't buy the S40.
Thanks

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Himanshu - 28 Aug 2003 06:26 GMT

> I bought a Siemens S40 in January and it worked fine in South America
> and in Europe. Last week I went to Danemark and the phone locked, I
> had to take the battery off and try again but it didn't work. Back in
> the NY area I tried it with a T-mobile SIM card and I had again the
> same problem, the phone locks.

First thing to do is check your software version. Is it v9.0.0 which
is the latest? If not, return it and get a phone with the latest
version of the software.

If you do have the latest version, then you are in the same boat as
the rest of us S40 owners - live with the lock-ups.

> I called Siemens service and they said that it is T-mobile's fault.
> They claim that the phone is fine.

I've had this phone for more than 2.5 years and I believe that this
problem is a phone software/hardware bug triggered by something that
the service providers are doing. So both are at fault, but neither
will/can do anything about it at this point.

Siemens told me that the phone is fine (and in fact, they have a
recorded message to this effect, which means that there must be a lot
of people calling in about this issue!). They also said that this
phone is discontinued, which means that no more softwre upgrades
unfortunately.

Cingular says it's either a phone problem, or since I'm roaming, it's
a problem with the carrier (VoiceStream/T-mobile). They won't accept
any responsibility.

T-mobile/VoiceStream won't help me because I'm not their customer.

> Does anybody have an idea of what to do with this stupid phone?
> In any case, don't buy the S40.

So far I've been lucky that the problem doesn't seem to be occurring
when I'm in my "home" area. However, when I travel (and when I need
the phone the most!) it sometimes does lock-up, but it's more prone to
do that in certain geographic locations with certain providers - e.g.
VoiceStream/T-mobile. In Cingular coverage areas, I don't see this
problem as much as others.

Anyway, in my case, when I'm roaming, I keep checking the phone every
now and-then. If the phone has locked up, I remove the battery and
re-insert it and it comes back to life for the next hour or two.
Always turn it off at night when roaming, otherwise the battery will
drain if it locks up.

Finally, call your service provider and create a log of your
complaints. Call when the phone is curently locked and have them call
your cell. Convince them they need to buy you a new phone :) If it
works, let us know :)

Himanshu

PS: There's a Yahoo group - siemens_s40 - if you're interested.

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Aaron C - 21 Sep 2003 16:09 GMT

> > I bought a Siemens S40 in January and it worked fine in South America
> > and in Europe. Last week I went to Danemark and the phone locked, I
[quoted text clipped - 53 lines]
>
> PS: There's a Yahoo group - siemens_s40 - if you're interested.

It seems to be related to the type of sims card. My GF and I both
have the same phone . . .from March or so, her's would look up all the
time and mine was fine . . .starting in July, it was the opposite.
The difference is my SIM card is an older 16K Powertel SIM card, where
hers is a newer 32k T-mobile card. Another thing that happened was
that starting in July, her phone said T-mobile at the top of the
screen where it use to say Powertel and mine still says VoiceStream. .
. not sure if the name thing has anything to do with it.

I would try a 32k card if you don't have one already . . . .good
luck!!!

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Himanshu - 30 Sep 2003 13:07 GMT

> > > I bought a Siemens S40 in January and it worked fine in South America
> > > and in Europe. Last week I went to Danemark and the phone locked, I

> > I've had this phone for more than 2.5 years and I believe that this
> > problem is a phone software/hardware bug triggered by something that
> > the service providers are doing. So both are at fault, but neither
> > will/can do anything about it at this point.
> >
> > Siemens told me that the phone is fine

> > Cingular says it's either a phone problem, or since I'm roaming, it's
> > a problem with the carrier (VoiceStream/T-mobile). They won't accept
> > any responsibility.

> > Himanshu
>
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> The difference is my SIM card is an older 16K Powertel SIM card, where
> hers is a newer 32k T-mobile card.

Hi Aaron,

When I looked at my SIM card from Cingular, there are a bunch of
numbers on several rows and the last row says "32KS" which might be
the 32K SIM that you're talking about. I've had this one since I got
the phone, and I still see the lockups.

> Another thing that happened was
> that starting in July, her phone said T-mobile at the top of the
> screen where it use to say Powertel and mine still says VoiceStream. .
> . not sure if the name thing has anything to do with it.

My guess would be no. I believe some carrier names are programmed
into the SIM card, and unless they're updated, old names will continue
to show. My phone also shows me VoiceStream instead of T-Mobile.

Any other hints/suggestions would be appreciated. No follow-up from
the original poster so far...

Himanshu

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