New Cingular SMT 5600 to Replace AT&T SMT 5600

[mrasmuss]

Okay, I am caught in the switch between my 8 years of being a loyal AT&T Wireless (which became SunComm in No. Carolina) customer now getting converted to Cingular. I recently moved across the country and when I went to obtain a new local number, they told me that my plan was no longer valid and needed to switch to a Cingular plan which required all new equipment for my 5 phone lines :x ! I love my SMT 5600, but they insisted I needed one of "theirs" to take advantage of the 850 band that AT&T did not have on their phones. Now, I need to know how to move all of my programs to the new phone without reinstalling everything all over again. Can someone please tell me there is an easy way to do this :?

[mrasmuss]

Okay, I am caught in the switch between my 8 years of being a loyal AT&T Wireless (which became SunComm in No. Carolina) customer now getting converted to Cingular. I recently moved across the country and when I went to obtain a new local number, they told me that my plan was no longer valid and needed to switch to a Cingular plan which required all new equipment for my 5 phone lines :x ! I love my SMT 5600, but they insisted I needed one of "theirs" to take advantage of the 850 band that AT&T did not have on their phones. Now, I need to know how to move all of my programs to the new phone without reinstalling everything all over again. Can someone please tell me there is an easy way to do this :?

[Jerry Raia]

Sprite Backup/Restore for Smartphone has this capability but I have never tried it myself. You might want to give it a try but they don't have a trial version anymore!! No idea why. Honestly you will probably have better results if you just bite the bullet and start over. I think a clean install will be much more reliable and trouble free than a restore to a new phone. Maybe someone who has done this kind of restore will add to this.

[gcherian]

Regardless of what they say - there is only one SMT5600 version and that is with the 850 band. All you have to do is get your's unlocked and you will be ready to put the cingular SIM card in. Either the person who told you is trying to make some sale or they are just ignorant. I have a ATT SMT5600 which I unlocked and is happily using on Cingular.

To unlock try http://www.imei-check.co.uk/c500unlock.php which is a paid service or if you are good with computers and tech stuff check the spv-developers.com - there is a free utility to unlock SMT5600.

If you are in an area where ATT had a lot of towers then you might want the capability of ENS. That is how the network tower preferences are loaded on the phone. For this you need cingular firmware on your SMT5600 and a 64K (newer) SIM from Cingular. You can get the firmware online if you want or if you are like me and the native cingular coverage is good enough - do not even worry about that.

Bottom line - you have an option not to waste your money on a new SMT5600 which is actually the same (well with Cingular customized firmware).

George

[mrasmuss]

Thanks George! Any concerns about the warranty or other "glitches that may occur as a result?

[gcherian]

No Glitches so far - actually I had dust issues so I called Audiovox directly and they promptly cleaned and sealed the screen. They asked where I got it from (I told them ATT) and they asked who is the current provider (I told them Cingular) and it was absolutely fine with them. As the phone manufacturer they did not seem to have any trouble with that.

Hope that helps.

George

[knoall]

Originally Posted by gcherian

If you are in an area where ATT had a lot of towers then you might want the capability of ENS. That is how the network tower preferences are loaded on the phone. For this you need cingular firmware on your SMT5600 and a 64K (newer) SIM from Cingular. You can get the firmware online if you want or if you are like me and the native cingular coverage is good enough - do not even worry about that.

Bottom line - you have an option not to waste your money on a new SMT5600 which is actually the same (well with Cingular customized firmware).

George

What is ENS exactly?
Also my biggest questions is where do i get the Cingular firmware?
I recently had a long ordeal with ATT vs Cingular and now that i have unlocked my 5600 to Cingular I cant use the internet functions. AAAH!

[gcherian]

howardforums.com is the place to get more infor on ENS and also the settings so that you can get to the internet. I can also help you with that, but there are posts there with detailed explanations and also the problems others faced which will help me you more that what I cut and paste from those threads.

George

[knoall]

I'm most concerned with getting the internet working. I followed a post in the forums here and it does not go. I have not been able to find a post at howardforums.com

[gcherian]

Originally Posted by knoall

I'm most concerned with getting the internet working. I followed a post in the forums here and it does not go. I have not been able to find a post at howardforums.com

Kevin,

Shoot me an email at gcherian at gmail and I will send you a document which has everything that you need to get the data to work and more. Ofcourse it is not authored by me, but I have a copy and can share :)

George

[knoall]

Originally Posted by gcherian

Kevin,

Shoot me an email at gcherian at gmail and I will send you a document which has everything that you need to get the data to work and more. Ofcourse it is not authored by me, but I have a copy and can share

George

After 45 minutes in a Cingular store and finally finding a guy who knows what he is doing and what is going on (Nick in Wilsonville, OR YOU ROCK!) it turns out that my problems were account related (surprise, surprise)
When I migrated to Cingular they set me up with some MediaNet plan that I didnt want with MMS etc. I then called and switched to the unlimited internet plan which was all great, but at that time the rep completley disabled text messaging completley. As it turns out you HAVE to have test messaging enabled for your internet plan to work, even if it is just a 'pay as you go' with no messages included. So once Nick in the store enabled the pay as you go text BAM the internet works.

So the settings above WERE correct as everyone said and all is now peachy. Accept for not having the cingular ROM which I would still like but am not going to attempt for fear of having a paperweight for a phone since I cant seem to find instructions on how to acutally DO the ROM upgrade myself.

Anywho, thanks all for input etc.

Kevin