SMT 5600 Reception Quality - Need help, please!

[Guest reubkov]

I just bought an SMT 5600 with an AT&T contract. Unfortunately, the coverage in my area is lousy. I set the network settings to manual, and selected Cingular, to see if it would be any better, but the reception is still very poor. I have a few questions that I desperately need some feedback on:

1. Would the Cingular coverage/reception be ANY better if I had the phone unlocked and used a Cingular SIM (64k is what I'd probably be given) or would it be identical to what I'm experiencing now? I've heard "yes" and "no" from various people...

2. Does anyone know who I can contact at Cingular to find out if coverage in my area (Palos Verdes, CA) is in line for improvement any time soon? I tried the regular Cingular number and no one could direct me to the right department or person...

3. Is it possible that the SMT 5600 has weaker reception capability than other handsets? A friend has a RAZR (?) and it appears that his reception is stronger than mine...

4. Can reception vary from unit to unit? Is it possible that my particular unit is not receiving the signal as strongly as another SMT 5600?

I'd GREATLY appreciate any and all advice, words of wisdom, etc. as I only have a few more days to decide whether or not to keep the phone.

MUCH thanks,

reubkov

[Guest martin]

Was your friend using a Cingular SIM in his RAZR ?

What comparison did you make with the SMT5600 ?

It is possible for a phone to have less reception than a similar model but it sounds like you are going to have to decide whether to take a chance on another SMT5600 phone or change phone models as you only have a few days left.

If you are already selecting the Cingular network manually and not receiving a strong signal from their local base station then I'm not sure that a Cingular SIM will make a big difference.

You could try asking AT&T if they could unlock the phone so you could test a Cingular SIM but I don't know if they will do that or not.

[Guest justinp]

Was your friend using a Cingular SIM in his RAZR ? 

What comparison did you make with the SMT5600 ?

It is possible for a phone to have less reception than a similar model but it sounds like you are going to have to decide whether to take a chance on another SMT5600 phone or change phone models as you only have a few days left.

If you are already selecting the Cingular network manually and not receiving a strong signal from their local base station then I'm not sure that a Cingular SIM will make a big difference.

You could try asking AT&T if they could unlock the phone so you could test a Cingular SIM but I don't know if they will do that or not.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I had my SPV-C500 replaced by orange because or poor reception, the new is greatly improved.

Cheers

JustinP

[Guest reubkov]

Was your friend using a Cingular SIM in his RAZR ? 

What comparison did you make with the SMT5600 ?

It is possible for a phone to have less reception than a similar model but it sounds like you are going to have to decide whether to take a chance on another SMT5600 phone or change phone models as you only have a few days left.

If you are already selecting the Cingular network manually and not receiving a strong signal from their local base station then I'm not sure that a Cingular SIM will make a big difference.

You could try asking AT&T if they could unlock the phone so you could test a Cingular SIM but I don't know if they will do that or not.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thanks very much for the reply. Yeah, my friend with the RAZR had a Cingular SIM. He works at Best Buy and we were standing side-by-side and he consistently had at least one more bar than I did. I know that doesn't mean a whole lot, but he did report that he gets decent coverage in the areas where I've been having trouble which, unfortunately, are the areas I need coverage the most!

Again, I really appreciate your help.

reubkov

[Guest gejenn]

Thanks very much for the reply. Yeah, my friend with the RAZR had a Cingular SIM.  He works at Best Buy and we were standing side-by-side and he consistently had at least one more bar than I did.  I know that doesn't mean a whole lot, but he did report that he gets decent coverage in the areas where I've been having trouble which, unfortunately, are the areas I need coverage the most!

Again, I really appreciate your help. 

reubkov

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

im here in LA and i have good reception with my i-mate sp3,btw im selling it and might get an i-mate sp3i.im using a 32k sim.

[Guest Hamilogre]

I've been having the same problems in Phoenix. South Scottsdale/North Tempe area mainly. I experience a lot of "holes" in my coverage. My question is, when i go into the network settings on my SMT5600 and go to Preferred Networks, i want to make it so the Cingular networks are at the top of the list to see if that helps the problem at all. After i move them up and press "done" it says "Error Incorrect password entered". I don't even enter a password and it says invalid. What is this password and how do i enter it?