so i have a new N95 (unlocked) previously on T-Mobile in the US. I'm trying Cingular because they offer 3G in my general area. I changed the phone settings to dual mode, but when 3G is showing on the phone there are no bars. Should there be? Does this mean i have no 3G signal right now?
I've only tried this from home where i unfortunately only get 1 or 2 bars of GPRS settings anyway so I'm HOPING that it's just becuase the signal isn't strong enough.
So since I'm new to 3G can anyone give me any pointers? Would it seem likely that I just am not in an area where 3G signal is strong enough?
krzydmnd wrote:so i have a new N95 (unlocked) previously on T-Mobile in the US. I'm trying Cingular because they offer 3G in my general area. I changed the phone settings to dual mode, but when 3G is showing on the phone there are no bars. Should there be? Does this mean i have no 3G signal right now?
Can you make or receive calls when 3G is showing but with 0 signal-Bars displayed? I thought this meant you had no reception and the N95 was looking for a 3G signal?
Is the sim card 3g compatible.
Steve_R wrote:I didn't think the N95 worked on US 3G?:con? http://www.howardforums.com//forum/thread/1185364/
Yes that's right i forgot about that it will only use Edge, they cant use the 3G in the US because of the patent spat with Qualcomm, that's why Nokia is not a big brand in North America. Thats why you don't see many Nokia's in north America compared to Europe, i remember going to Canada and was unable to find even a phone charger for a Nokia. No shops at all stocked nokia phones or accessories, it was crazy, all Samsung's and other makes.
actually, after posting this message, i had a BRILLIANT idea (if I don't say so myself) 🙄 to check Cingulars website for 3G coverage. They do offer 3G service here, and it is a 3G card (the punch out card has a little 3G logo on it).
What I Found was that my home address is about 10 miles of the 3G Coverage area here in my part of the state.
Not a big deal because I do have 3G coverage in the town that I work in where I'd use it most anyway. I'll be traveling back there today so I'll see if it works there.
Keeping my fingers crossed but I"m pretty sure I'm good to go. thanks for the responses anyway!
what exactly does 3g do? some people recommend turning it off to preserve battery life but what would i be missing out on? what can it possibly make better than normal calls etc?
krzydmnd wrote:actually, after posting this message, i had a BRILLIANT idea (if I don't say so myself) 🙄 to check Cingulars website for 3G coverage. They do offer 3G service here, and it is a 3G card (the punch out card has a little 3G logo on it).What I Found was that my home address is about 10 miles of the 3G Coverage area here in my part of the state.
Not a big deal because I do have 3G coverage in the town that I work in where I'd use it most anyway. I'll be traveling back there today so I'll see if it works there.
Keeping my fingers crossed but I"m pretty sure I'm good to go. thanks for the responses anyway!
European UMTS 3GSM is incompatible with the US version as it uses a different frequencys and works differently. In the North America its CDMA2000 in Japan, Europe Asia and others its UMTS 3GSM / W-CDMA.
Hopefully when Nokia gets their patent dispute with Qualcomm sorted we may see Nokia Phones capable of using 3G in all areas of the world. But unfortunately Qualcomm are proving problematic from what i understand from various news posts, Nokia has already reported them to the EU commission.
well you're right. No 3G on the N95 here in US for me. I'm sticking w/ my t-mobile
t-zones plan and the phone seems surprisingly happy with it for the price. $6 and so far I've accessed any site I've tried w/ relatively acceptable speeds.
To boot, I'm on a reaaaallly old T-Mobile phone plan so I pay $20 for phone service and $6 for unlimited internet w/ email. Much better than the $60 it would have cost me to stay w/ Cingular just for the 3G service.
thanks for the feedback, saved me many hours of frustration, I'm sure!
gritbox wrote:what exactly does 3g do? some people recommend turning it off to preserve battery life but what would i be missing out on? what can it possibly make better than normal calls etc?
3G network offers Video calls and faster datatransfer rates than GPRS and EDGE (aca EGPRS). 3G offers up to 384 kbps while you with GPRS and EDGE can get 57 kbps / 236 kbps. And then of course you have the possibility of HSDPA (some call it "3.5G"..) on N95 which today can offer up to 7.2 mbps data transfer rate.