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USA T-Mobile customers with T610, please have your voice heard! |
GTakacs
Joined: Nov 21, 2002
Posts: 68
From: USA, Fort Worth, TX
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I just picked up this great phone as a replacement for my T300 and I am dissapointed with two things so far.
1) There is no GPRS indicator on the phone status bar any more. My T300 had it just fine and I know the T610 should have it too since I have not heard anyone else griping about it and it is posted in the manual.
2) GPRS data counter is not part of the time and cost menu. I think this is also a feature that is supposed to be on the T610.
From deductive reasoning I think these features are removed from the USA T-Mobile branded and customized phones for whatever reason. I think it is a bug in the firmware.
I have only found one other guy that have experienced this problem. His post can be read in the GPRS forum.
So I am asking every USA T-Mobile customer who has or thinking about getting a T610 please call and file a dissatisfaction report with T-mobile tier 2 technical support so T-Mobile would actually do something about it as it is pretty ridiculous not having these features on the phone.
Thank you very much for your support!
That's my story and I'm stickin' to it! |
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slamEVIL
Joined: Aug 14, 2003
Posts: 370
From: San Diego
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there is supposed to be an indicator icon. it's even in the manual. i'm on cingular and use a t616 but it's the same thing. this is gonna sound like a silly question but, you do have a subscription for gprs right? if not, the icon won't appear. gprs is connected to your number* so, if you got a new number when you got your phone, you need to call t-mobile and tell them to transfer it. if you didn't get a new number, then i would say something's wrong with the phone.
* for example, i had gprs service on my t68i. when i bought my t616 and transfered the sim, the gprs icon automaticly appeared and ofcourse, i had the service.
the data counter can be found at: calls-> time & cost-> data counters
hope all of this helps 
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[ This Message was edited by: slamEVIL on 2003-09-08 08:11 ] |
GTakacs
Joined: Nov 21, 2002
Posts: 68
From: USA, Fort Worth, TX
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Well the T600 from T-Mobile and the T616 from Cingulair are apprently not the same thing. I do get GPRS connection just fine I can use wap and MMS, I just don't have the little indicator icon and the gprs data counter.
It is an annoyance that I'll have to get used to as it seems. I have called Ericsson this morning and they told me I am pretty much SOL as they cannot and will not change the customization firmware unless T-mobile requests it. It seems like T-mobile wanted the gprs signal and the gprs counter to be disabled in their customization software. Makes me kind of disappointed but what can I really do at this point? Not much.
Please, people on T-mobile, call and have your voice heard!
That's my story and I'm stickin' to it! |
markgamber
Joined: Apr 16, 2003
Posts: 73
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T-Mobile did do some exasperating things to T610, such as removing the Chat item from the messaging menu. Why? Who the hell knows. The data counter isn't obvious but it is available. Go to the shortcuts menu, edit shortcuts and then look for the data counter item. Check it and it'll show up on the shortcut menu. The GPRS indicator doesn't display no matter what you do with the data comm items so don't bother trying. But chances are good that if you have a signal, you have GPRS. |
GTakacs
Joined: Nov 21, 2002
Posts: 68
From: USA, Fort Worth, TX
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Mark,
There is at least someone who understands exacly what I am talking about! Thanks! I did not even notice the chat feature being gone, I have never used it on my T300 anyway, so it doesn't bother me much.
Thank you for telling me about the gprs counter and the trick about how to get to it! It will make my GPRS usage a lot more manageable!
As far as the little GPRS icon goes, it is not quite true that as long as I have reception GPRS is available. I have found plenty of towers in my town that show that GPRS is available but I can't use it, The little upside down "L" instead of the triagle shape shows. Oh well, I guess I can live with it now, but it just seems sad that providers go this far with customization, ripping out useful features for no apparent reason. If you hear anything new or have more information, please don't hesitate to tell me!
Thanks again, that gprs counter is a nice trick!
That's my story and I'm stickin' to it! |
Jim
Joined: Jan 20, 2002
Posts: > 500
From: Belgium
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I don't have the GPRS indicator too and it's a customized one from Mobistar ( belgium network provider ), it only appears when I make an connection to go to wap and dissapear when I close the connection. Oh and btw is it possible to keep the gprs connection alive constantly, every time I wan't to check something on wap or email I have to start a new gprs connection because when I quit the wap browser it's chut down. I know I should look in my manual but I think that I lost them  .
Thanks
Edit: DAMN I just found how to get the little icon for the GPRS, I was trying a last time to find what's wrong with it and I changed in Data accounts> Preferred Service from "GSM only" to "GPRS and GSM" and then I heard that sounds in the micros of my pc and voila the icon appeared.
Hope that it will work with you too. Cheers
[ This Message was edited by: Jim on 2003-09-08 22:12 ] |
GTakacs
Joined: Nov 21, 2002
Posts: 68
From: USA, Fort Worth, TX
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Jim,
Thank you for your response! However unfortunately that selection (preferred service) is just another feature that has been kindly disabled by my lousy "big brother" service provider. We do not have that feature enabled in our phone and there is not even a way to get to it from the shortcuts unlike the GPRS usage counter.
So it seems like we're officially screwed.
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That's my story and I'm stickin' to it!
[ This Message was edited by: GTakacs on 2003-09-08 22:34 ] |
Jim
Joined: Jan 20, 2002
Posts: > 500
From: Belgium
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That sucks, sorry then that I couldn't help you |
impy78
Joined: Aug 17, 2003
Posts: 207
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Thank you Jim, had always wondered why the icon didn't appear whilst i wasn't browsing, ta muchly! |
markgamber
Joined: Apr 16, 2003
Posts: 73
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Yeah...the data counter is an obvious attempt to squeeze a few more bucks out of the phone user. But why would they provide AOL IM via SMS and then remove the only rational way to hold an AOL IM on a phone? And who knows what else they did to the poor phone. Well, at least I have all the ammo I need to get out of my contract if I want to. The pricks didn't even give me any kind of deal on the phone. Now you see what happens when you quit college by your second year?  |
GTakacs
Joined: Nov 21, 2002
Posts: 68
From: USA, Fort Worth, TX
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Update!
First of all, I tested the Data connection option on my T-mobile branded T300 as Jim did on his T610, and sure enough if the preferred service is set to GSM only the GPRS icon is gone on my T300 as well. The only difference is that on the T300 it actually shows up for a short period of time just before a GPRS connection is terminated, while on the T610 it does not show up at all. So this confirms that T-Mobile screwed up this setting (by setting it to GSM only) and then they blocked user changeability so they just shot themselves in the foot on this one as no user can fix the problem themselves.
The only problem I have is that T-Mobile will most likely not do anything about this issue and we'll just be stuck with it.
On a second note I have called up SonyEricsson USA and asked them if they could re-flash the phone with the standard T610 firmware without the POS T-Mobile customization which doesn't buy you anything only locks a ton of features out, adds a couple of extra wap links here and there (megatones dowload, game download, which neither of them work btw) and adds the standard t-mobile tones and pictures. The lady on the phone waas very helpful and after I made it clear that I am not interested in the unlocking of the subsidy lock I am only interested in the re-flashing the phone she said that they would have to get back to me on that.
So here I am, with a crappy T-Mobile firmware eagerly awaiting SE's response if they can do it or not. I already told them that if they can't do it I'll just take it to a service center in Hungary at Christmas when I go back home and get it removed then.
That's my story and I'm stickin' to it! |
slamEVIL
Joined: Aug 14, 2003
Posts: 370
From: San Diego
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dude t-mobile sucks! i heard stories about them before, but this is the iceing on the cake. drop their sorry asses.
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markgamber
Joined: Apr 16, 2003
Posts: 73
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I don't know about your area but any other carrier around here would cost me a fortune so T-Mobile it is. I really can't complain about their customer service and certainly not their rates, both of which matter more than the phone. I just think it's bizarre what they did to the T610. I probably should have stuck with the T300 another six months but oh well, too late now. |
GTakacs
Joined: Nov 21, 2002
Posts: 68
From: USA, Fort Worth, TX
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Mark is right, T-mobile is the only decent GSM provider and all of their services are really good. They were the first ones rolling out MMS and GPRS, they were the first ones who had decent worldwide roaming agreement for dirt cheap. The only other GSM provider where I live is AT&T and their price and features and coverage is ridiculous.
As soon as I have my phone flashed by SE back to the original one I'll be super happy. Until then I'm still feeling pretty darn good about both T-mobile and the T610.
That's my story and I'm stickin' to it! |
lmfboy01
Joined: Aug 26, 2003
Posts: 10
From: Honolulu, HI
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um... well at least we got the phone for cheap.... thanks for the info about the data counter.... that'll be helpful for me. |
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Posted: 2003-09-08 07:49
