[NA]Cell phone sticker shock[NA]

Let'sgoflying!

Let'sgoflying!

Touchdown! Greaser!
Joined
Feb 23, 2005
Messages
20,322
Location
west Texas
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Display name:
Dave Taylor
I guess I've been spoiled by the 'free phone' enticements when I sign up...problem being the contract lasts longer than the planned obsolescence date of the phone.
So, 3 mo left in the contract and phone failing.
200$ minimum for a phone.

a) do I have to buy their phone?? (ATT/Cingular)
b) if no to a), then where to buy phones that will be fully compatible with their system and hopefully the card inside my Motorola?
c) go phoneless and wait to renew?
 
My wife dropped hers in the water at Ocean City, MD with 4 months left on her plan. Sprint charged $40 for "early termination" on that contract when I signed a new deal with them.
 
Dave,

Buy an unlocked phone on EBay. Or elsewhere. I got a fairly nice unlocked GSM unit that I use when I travel to Europe. Used it with an old AT&T, then later a Cingular SIM card.

Or, go get a Cingular phone off of EBay cheap.

Move the SIM card over, and you're done.

No need to spend a fortune.

So much nicer than dealing with the CDMA companies like Sprint and Verizon.
 
His problem is, no time to buy off of eBay before he leaves town...

...if I had one handy, I'd just FedEx it to him. But (of course) I do not.
 
SCCutler said:
His problem is, no time to buy off of eBay before he leaves town...

...if I had one handy, I'd just FedEx it to him. But (of course) I do not.
Click to expand...

I do have one handy..at least at the old apartment. I have a Cingular Nokia 6130 which IIRC is a tri-band phone. Dunno if it's GSM. I should be able to scrounge up the charger(s) etc. I haven't used it in about a year so the battery may be deep discharged but I think it's a NiMH so that might not be a problem.

My experience with Cingular was that they "marry" the SIM to the phone's ESN so you can't just swap SIM cards and be done. Cingular always did the marry for me for free, though.

I may not have my paws on it until this weekend, tough. Lemme know if it'll work for you and I'll send it out.
 
hmmm they might require some activation after all...the rep said I can buy one for 80$ and they will switch out the sim card but also have to connect it to their computer b4 it will work. Thanks for the offer mike, I am leaving Friday am for 2-3 weeks and will have to see about getting to a city to obtain on enroute...my fault I was ignoring the problem, thinking the charger was being fussy
 
mikea said:
My experience with Cingular was that they "marry" the SIM to the phone's ESN so you can't just swap SIM cards and be done. Cingular always did the marry for me for free, though.
Click to expand...

All the more reason to go with T-Mobile, which apparently roams on Cingulars network these days.

And all the more reason (as if I don't have enough already) to NOT ever go back to Cingular again.

I got a call from VZ the other day - they noted that my contract expired, and they wanted me on a new one. The incentive was 1,000 minutes I could apply anytime if I signed for two years. I told 'em to pound it, and when he persisted, I told him that *if* I had to sign a new contract, I might as well go with a different provider - after all, my real goal is to be contract-free. Which I remain.
 
Cingular does not (from my experience) require any special action to move the SIM from one phone to the next. They do (I think) lock phones they sell to work only on their network, though there are plenty of folks who know how to unlock 'em.
 
hmm probably just another ill-trained sales rep spike.
the darned things charging ok right now so we will try to make it to santa fe with it
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
hmmm they might require some activation after all...the rep said I can buy one for 80$ and they will switch out the sim card but also have to connect it to their computer b4 it will work. Thanks for the offer mike, I am leaving Friday am for 2-3 weeks and will have to see about getting to a city to obtain on enroute...my fault I was ignoring the problem, thinking the charger was being fussy
Click to expand...

Nope. As usualy the guys behind the counter are clueless. The only thing that an unlocked phone may require is the customization for their web services or the look and feel flexing. When a cell company does this most times they also lock the phone to their SIM card (nice huih?)
 
Having thought about it, I've never had a problem moving a Cingular (or any other, including the old Sprint Spectrum) SIM to an unlocked phone.

A brief look in Howard Forums doesn't show any tie between the SIM and a particular ESN for Cingular - so that SIM should work in an unlocked phone just fine. Were it me, I'd try it....
 
wsuffa said:
Having thought about it, I've never had a problem moving a Cingular (or any other, including the old Sprint Spectrum) SIM to an unlocked phone.

A brief look in Howard Forums doesn't show any tie between the SIM and a particular ESN for Cingular - so that SIM should work in an unlocked phone just fine. Were it me, I'd try it....
Click to expand...

SIMs do not have ESNs. ESN are for IS95 and IS136 based cell systems. That is CDMA and the old TDMA respectively. GSM which is what T-Mobile and AT&T have use the SIM. The SIM contains several identity features including the IMSI which is then liked to your phone number. Authentication of the SIM is handled over the air using an algorithm that is different than the one for the TDMA and CDMA systems. The authentication centers in the networks are different as well. GSM phone can be locked to a specific service provider SIM. When referring to an unlocked phone it is that lock that is referred to.

You say you have an old Sprint Spectrum phone that had a SIM in it? I am surprised. I was very involved with the R-UIM which is a CDMA SIM card, Sprint was adamant that they would never deploy a SIM or R-UIM based phone. Sprint now has SIM based phones that they inherited from Nextel but I was not aware of anything form the Sprint Spectrum days. What type of phone is it?

BTW R-UIMs are only deployed in China and are a dual smart card device. That is to say they contain a subscription for CDMA and one for GSM. China Unicom uses these to facilitate roaming on their system.
 
smigaldi said:
SIMs do not have ESNs. ESN are for IS95 and IS136 based cell systems. That is CDMA and the old TDMA respectively. GSM which is what T-Mobile and AT&T have use the SIM. The SIM contains several identity features including the IMSI which is then liked to your phone number. Authentication of the SIM is handled over the air using an algorithm that is different than the one for the TDMA and CDMA systems. The authentication centers in the networks are different as well. GSM phone can be locked to a specific service provider SIM. When referring to an unlocked phone it is that lock that is referred to.

You say you have an old Sprint Spectrum phone that had a SIM in it? I am surprised. I was very involved with the R-UIM which is a CDMA SIM card, Sprint was adamant that they would never deploy a SIM or R-UIM based phone. Sprint now has SIM based phones that they inherited from Nextel but I was not aware of anything form the Sprint Spectrum days. What type of phone is it?

BTW R-UIMs are only deployed in China and are a dual smart card device. That is to say they contain a subscription for CDMA and one for GSM. China Unicom uses these to facilitate roaming on their system.
Click to expand...

Sprint Spectrum was the first PCS carrier in the country - originally in the DC/Balto area (it was a deal with American Personal Communications - aka APC). It was NOT part of the Sprint CDMA network. I was an "early adopter". When Sprint rolled out CDMA, they converted all the Spectrum/GSM customers over to CDMA, requiring new phones and accounts. I was long gone by that time.

Here's a short article about it. I was one of the first subs.... http://www.decodesystems.com/mt/96oct/index.html

I know you know it better than I, but IIRC, a GSM phone has a serial number, which is NOT contained in the SIM. I never meant to imply that there was an ESN in the SIM, but rather I meant to imply that the SIM is generally not tied to a specific phone/serial number. Though I think that may be possible in some systems, it's just plain generally not done. Sorta defeats the original purpose of the SIM chip. More frequently is the case where the phone/device manufacturer makes it impossible to remove the SIM, like AT&T once did when it glued the SIMs into their GPRS cards.... had to destroy the SIM and the device to try and remove it. Sad to say, BTDT.
 
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wsuffa said:
Sprint Spectrum was the first PCS carrier in the country - originally in the DC/Balto area
Click to expand...
HMMMm I deployed the first commercial PCS system in the nation and it was not them and it was not in DC either. [/quote]

wsuffa said:
Here's a short article about it. I was one of the first subs.... http://www.decodesystems.com/mt/96oct/index.html
Click to expand...
http://www.decodesystems.com/mt/96oct/index.html
I a "vaguely" familiar with that ;);) As in that was the bane of my existance for several years.

wsuffa said:
I know you know it better than I, but IIRC, a GSM phone has a serial number, which is NOT contained in the SIM.
Click to expand...
That would be the IMEI which is not used for authentication. It is sometimes checked against a stolen equipment database but it has nothign to do with call set up.

wsuffa said:
I never meant to imply that there was an ESN in the SIM, but rather I meant to imply that the SIM is generally not tied to a specific phone/serial number.
Click to expand...
Ok I just read it that you might have been saying that an ESN was in the SIM. Actually FCC rules (part 22) prohibit the ESN from being removable at all. This is why some of the 3Watt power boosters dropped off of the market. They worked by transferring the identity fo the portable phone to a car phone when the mobile plugged into it. Then the portable only became a handset. This was something that my company opposed but was over ruled by the operators.
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
I guess I've been spoiled by the 'free phone' enticements when I sign up...problem being the contract lasts longer than the planned obsolescence date of the phone.
So, 3 mo left in the contract and phone failing.
200$ minimum for a phone.

a) do I have to buy their phone?? (ATT/Cingular)
b) if no to a), then where to buy phones that will be fully compatible with their system and hopefully the card inside my Motorola?
c) go phoneless and wait to renew?
Click to expand...

Dave,

Will they give you a new subsidized phone if you extend the contract for two years past its current expiration date?

Also, just curious, what phone do you have that's failing? My Sony Ericsson is having connector (data/power/headset is same connector) issues after 16 months. I may just decide to grab an iPhone if this one craps out early, and I was hoping I could extend my contract by a couple of years rather than having to wait for the end of it.
 
Repeat after me "The most I'll do is a one-year contract". Say it over and over. And then remember to say it to the phone salesman when you go to get a new phone or change service to a new provider.

*Some* companies will consider a no-contract deal, but only if you pay full (inflated) price for the phone. I've got an unlocked Moto quad-band GSM unit that I use internationally - when it comes time to travel again, you can bet I'll be trying for a no-contract deal.

Never do a 2 year contract, no matter how hard they push.
 
I'm on my 4th or 5th phone from Cingular and I have yet to pay one cent for them (other than through the monthly billing of course.)
 
KennyFlys said:
It looks cool but so did the Treo and it turned out to be an disaster for reliability. Also, it's not even released yet and there's no clue on pricing. Add to that I'd have to switch carriers... I'll pass.
Click to expand...

A clue on pricing? It was announced last fall that the iPhone would be $499 and $599 with a two year contract.

The UI looks seriously slick enough that iPhone will take over the market.

We'll just hear how bad EDGE is. All of the demos are using WiFi. EDGE is bad now BEFORE there are 2 million new users sharing the bandwidth.

I also wonder how good one handed operation is going to be.
 
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mikea said:
A clue on pricing? It was announced last fall that the iPhone would be $499 and $599 with a two year contract.
Click to expand...
Press announcements are meaningless. I want to see the actual sale price with service and contract options.
 
Hi its a motorola with no numbers on it, no name of any kind.
Its the connection between the charger and phone btw...I think I will try to tough it out, I can get an "upgrade" in the fall they say.
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
I guess I've been spoiled by the 'free phone' enticements when I sign up...problem being the contract lasts longer than the planned obsolescence date of the phone.
So, 3 mo left in the contract and phone failing.
200$ minimum for a phone.

a) do I have to buy their phone?? (ATT/Cingular)
b) if no to a), then where to buy phones that will be fully compatible with their system and hopefully the card inside my Motorola?
c) go phoneless and wait to renew?
Click to expand...



take the SIM card out of the current phone, go to WalMart or similar and buy the cheapest GO Phone they have (mine was $18), insert SIM card, charge phone and your phone, address book and text messaging will work just fine. I did it after dropping my RAZR in the washing machine.

I now use the GO phone whenever I think my new RAZR will be threatened, such as boating, out in the rain, near the washer, etc.

SafetyGuy
 
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