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New SIM really helps MPX220 signal

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Posted by: mikesm

Folks, I bought 2 MPX220's at BestBuy last week, and after having them swapped out for new ones that have the 1.30 firmware, almost everything was great. But at my office, the new MPX220 only got about 1 bar of coverage, and in the interior of the building, the reception was very marginal. Data was slower than normal too.

My old phone, an AT&T V60, had great coverage in the same building, and reported 4 bars or more. Suspecting the ENS issue re: 32K SIM cards, I called Cingular and they knew about the problem and told me to go to one of their corporate stores and have them swap it out, and have them call customer service to back out any charges.

So I went down to an official Cingular store (this is important - a lot of the stores in my area were run by Parrot, an agent of Cingular, and were clueless about the issue and wanted to charge me for swapping out the SIM). I told them what customer care said, and they swapped it out without attempting to charge me, saying it was free to upgrade from a 32K to 64K SIM. They also said it shouldn't make that big a difference.

Anyways, I'm back at my office, and now I get 4 bars and the signal is great throughout the bldg, and data is reliable too. Big improvement!

Apparently Best Buy shoved 32K SIM's in all their MPX220's, and the Cingular rep told me never to go to Best Buy to replace a SIM, because they charge $75 for their 64K cards! Sounds like some sort of scam, but I thought it was interesting the CSR said to avoid Best Buy and go to their corporate store to fix it.

Anyways, hope this is helpful for folks who have been seeing coverage issues. It sounds like there is no downside to the swap, so everyone who bought an MPX220 at Best Buy should do this.

PS The corporate store also had a dummy MPX220 on display, though it didn't look like they were available just quite yet.

Thanks,
Mike


Posted by: aristoBrat

Can anyone explain how swapping out the SIM card would change the phones reception?

Could the new SIM be loaded with more updated info and he's using a different/closer tower now or something?




Posted by: mikesm

It's some issue with enhanced network selection (?)) ESN. You can look this up in the Cingular forum for more details. All I know is that it works well.

Thanks,
Mike


Posted by: thegoldenhand

mike, i asked this in a separate thread but did you get a new phone # when you activated your 64K sim? or were you able to keep the same phone number/s? thanks!


Posted by: mikesm

I responded in the other thread, but no, same number, plan etc...

Thanks,
Mike

PS If you have contact phone numbers stored on the SIM and not in the phone, they will not get transferred, but I don't think this is an issue with the mpx220.


Posted by: lagrangeboy

Quote:
Originally posted by mikesm
Folks, I bought 2 MPX220's at BestBuy last week, and after having them swapped out for new ones that have the 1.30 firmware, almost everything was great. But at my office, the new MPX220 only got about 1 bar of coverage, and in the interior of the building, the reception was very marginal. Data was slower than normal too.

My old phone, an AT&T V60, had great coverage in the same building, and reported 4 bars or more. Suspecting the ENS issue re: 32K SIM cards, I called Cingular and they knew about the problem and told me to go to one of their corporate stores and have them swap it out, and have them call customer service to back out any charges.

So I went down to an official Cingular store (this is important - a lot of the stores in my area were run by Parrot, an agent of Cingular, and were clueless about the issue and wanted to charge me for swapping out the SIM). I told them what customer care said, and they swapped it out without attempting to charge me, saying it was free to upgrade from a 32K to 64K SIM. They also said it shouldn't make that big a difference.

Anyways, I'm back at my office, and now I get 4 bars and the signal is great throughout the bldg, and data is reliable too. Big improvement!

Apparently Best Buy shoved 32K SIM's in all their MPX220's, and the Cingular rep told me never to go to Best Buy to replace a SIM, because they charge $75 for their 64K cards! Sounds like some sort of scam, but I thought it was interesting the CSR said to avoid Best Buy and go to their corporate store to fix it.

Anyways, hope this is helpful for folks who have been seeing coverage issues. It sounds like there is no downside to the swap, so everyone who bought an MPX220 at Best Buy should do this.

PS The corporate store also had a dummy MPX220 on display, though it didn't look like they were available just quite yet.

Thanks,
Mike





Mike, what type of data plan are you on and what ROM did you have before the exchange?
Thanks
Wayne


Posted by: mikesm

I am on the WIX unlimited plan for 19.99/month. I had .325 before the swapout - the new phones all run 1.30.

Thanks,
Mike


Posted by: lagrangeboy

Quote:
Originally posted by mikesm
I am on the WIX unlimited plan for 19.99/month. I had .325 before the swapout - the new phones all run 1.30.

Thanks,
Mike


Thanks Mike!


Posted by: dwcliff703

How do you know whether you have 32K sim or a 64K sim?


Posted by: mikesm

It says so on the SIM. Apparently Best Buy took the cheap route and always used 32K SIM's.

thanks,
mike


Posted by: ClarkG

This is good to know. My dad bought my brother and I MPx220's and Cingular (bye bye verizon!) for xmas. I'm already had him confirm that we have 0.342 and it seems to be working right. Now I'll have to email him and check the SIM cards. I'm assuming since we got them from Best Buy that they have 32k cards. This would explain the lack of signal I got the one day I had messed with the phone while at home.


Posted by: dwcliff703

I have an AT&T sim card (blue) and it doesn't indicate anywhere on the card that it is 32K or 64K. I seem to have good reception, especially compared to the MPX200 I used for a long while - really no comparison. Its the biggest advantage I've found from upgrading to the MPX220!


Posted by: thegoldenhand

Just a quick update on my new 64K sim card. I have an MPX220 with .342 and I'd say the 64K sim didn't do much if any at all. Maybe I'll have better luck with the MPX220 with the 1.30 firmware. I was expecting the replacement phones from XBM to arrive today but it didn't, so maybe it will arrive tomorrow.


Posted by: pdagal

The 64k SIM doesn't always make a difference. It really depends on the area you're in and how far network integration of AT&T towers has progressed.


Posted by: ClarkG

My dad just had 64k cards installed in my new phone. He said the reception bar has greatly increased in our town and in my house back at home.


Posted by: eminemslm0

Quote:
Originally posted by mikesm
It says so on the SIM. Apparently Best Buy took the cheap route and always used 32K SIM's.

thanks,
mike

the mpx i bought from bestbuy uses the 64k not 32k card




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