64K SIMS and ENS Phones Q&A (Resulting from Cingular and ATTWS Merger)

[White Skinned]

I must say this has probably been the most usefull post ive seen on hofo in awhile..This post in itself answered 100 questions from all over the forum..Fabulous post kilo..We could deffenetly use this post sticked

[kilo]

I hope that a comprehensive list of ENS phones will be posted soon.

[ASimpleFarmer]

Originally posted by kilo
I hope that a comprehensive list of ENS phones will be posted soon.

that would be glorious. I plan on moving over to cingular a little after the 15th. my tmobile plan ends the 14th of the month

[powertoburn]

64K & NON ENS PHONE

So, from my understanding with my 64K sim currently my phone is already scanning for a new network every 6 minutes?

So, I assume that AT&T roaming is not even allowed yet in my LAC - that my phone stops searching?

Also, won't the network searching every 6 minutes cause me to miss calls if someone happens to call while the phone is searching? Or does my phone still remain registered on the serving site.

Now, what if 32K sim and non ENS phone. Or 8K & 16K sim with non ENS phone? Will the phone still scan for network to register on every 6 minutes? I am assuming OTA and network parameter on BTS can control this.

My dad has a 8K sim and my mom has 16K sim from the PacBell days. Their sim did receive the OTA to display Cingular

[Rube]

You said that:

... you should be able to put a 64K SIM into an unlocked ATTWS phone and it work just like a 32K Cingular SIM into an unlocked ATTWS phone. But if a Cingular blue customer wants to get one of the plans with rollover, cingular will have them buy a new ENS phone with 64K SIM.

but also said that:

Of course you could keep your ATTWS handset, get this new Cingular ENS handset and 64K SIM and then just take the 64K SIM out and put it back into your old ATTWS handset, and you always have this backup phone handy.

They seem to contradict one another. Let me phrase this in a simple question:

If I buy the cheapest phone possible from Cingular (maybe free with incentives), sign up for a rollover plan, and then stick my sim into my unlocked AT&T phone would I run into any problems?

I'm not too concerned about the ENS thing, because it doesn't seem to have a real effect on me as an end user. I also am aware of the $150 deal, but even with that, the Cingular 6620 would cost more than what I paid for it at AT&T.

[kilo]

Originally posted by powertoburn
64K & NON ENS PHONE

From what I've been told, a 64K and a non-ens phone will act the exact same way as a 32K sim in a non-ens phone or a 16k sim in a non-ens phone or a 8k SIM in a non-ens phone, or any SIM (besides a 64K SIM with the virtual applications of the new Cingular) in an ENS enabled phone:

It will scan for service every 6 minutes

I don't know about the thing about not getting phone calls while scanning. I would guess not just because I've not heard of tons of people wondering why they were getting a notification they had gotten a voicemail without receiving an incoming call.

Originally posted by Rube
If I buy the cheapest phone possible from Cingular (maybe free with incentives), sign up for a rollover plan, and then stick my sim into my unlocked AT&T phone would I run into any problems?

No (well... they say it would lead to decreased battery life, especially if you lived in an area where there are no Cingular Orange towers)

And for anyone who just read that, remember that he DID say that it was unlocked.

For that to work you have to assume that if you are on your home network then it doesn't scan as much... but how can that be true? Where's IHAP when we need him?

[kilo]

oh yeah, unlocked ATTWS customers will need to get their GPRS Internet Settings from the Cingular FAQ at:

Cingular GSM WAP Settings
http://www.howardforums.com/showthre...hreadid=132602

[kilo]

Originally posted by papagiorgio13
does anyone know if after the 15th people with 32k sims will be able to get 64k replacements for free?

They don't need them, the only people who "need" them are ATTWS customers who get one of the ENS-Enabled phones offered by Cingular

[Sigifrith]

I'm a Cingular customer. I have a locked AT&T V-600 coming thru eBay. I know that it must be unlocked, but thought I could just stick in my existing SIM card. Will this work, or do I need a 64k card?
If I need the new card, how difficult will it be to get one from Cingular?

Thanks

[futureMD]

Your AT&T branded v600 will be locked to an AT&T SIM card. You can unlock it, however. This site will do it for $20, and you don't need software or a data cable. It will unlock if via keypresses. You'll have to unlock it to put in a Cingular SIM card. You won't need a 64K SIM card. Everything that a 64K SIM card has that you need will be downloaded via an OTA update sometime on or after Nov. 15.

[kilo]

Originally posted by kilo
They don't need them, the only people who "need" them are ATTWS customers who get one of the ENS-Enabled phones offered by Cingular

And I should add, "The only people who would find it REALLY necessary is ATTWS customers who live in an area with only Cingular Blue towers and no Cingular Orange towers and get one of the new ENS-Enabled phones offered by Cingular

Originally posted by Sigifrith
I'm a Cingular customer. I have a locked AT&T V-600 coming thru eBay. I know that it must be unlocked, but thought I could just stick in my existing SIM card. Will this work, or do I need a 64k card?

You don't need one, your existing 32K SIM will work just fine (after the phone is unlocked of course)

What futureMD just said was right about not needing one, i just figured I'd pointlessly post again.

[rbrome]

Originally posted by kilo
And I should add, "The only people who would find it REALLY necessary is ATTWS customers who live in an area with only Cingular Blue towers and no Cingular Orange towers and get one of the new ENS-Enabled phones offered by Cingular

Oooooh - NOW I get it! I knew I was missing something in all of this.

So what you're saying is that 64K SIMs combined with ENS allow a Cingular (Orange) phone and SIM to treat the AT&T (Cingular Blue) network as its home network, right?

And that isn't possible with just an OTA update to a non-ENS Cingular phone and/or 32K SIM, correct?

[futureMD]

Originally posted by rbrome
And that isn't possible with just an OTA update to a non-ENS Cingular phone and/or 32K SIM, correct?

Yes, this is exactly what I was wondering, too.

I'm glad that my 6230 turned out to have ENS. I would have hated to have gotten a non-ENS phone right before the merger, even though I'm in a Cingular orange-dominated area (Atlanta, corporate headquarters) I do have 5 "roaming minutes" per the OLAM, so it appears that I'm spending some time on Cingular blue somewhere.

[kilo]

Originally posted by rbrome
Oooooh - NOW I get it! I knew I was missing something in all of this.

So what you're saying is that 64K SIMs combined with ENS allow a Cingular (Orange) phone and SIM to treat the AT&T (Cingular Blue) network as its home network, right?

And that isn't possible with just an OTA update to a non-ENS Cingular phone and/or 32K SIM, correct?

Exactly! Give that man a cigar.

[kilo]

Originally posted by futureMD
I'm in a Cingular orange-dominated area (Atlanta, corporate headquarters) I do have 5 "roaming minutes" per the OLAM, so it appears that I'm spending some time on Cingular blue somewhere.

It could in theory be someone aside from Cingular blue