Differences between AT&T and Cingular SMT 5600s

[Guest reubkov]

I read recently that Cingular will be releasing their own version of the SMT 5600. Does anyone have any details about this, such as release date, changes or variations to the unit, etc.?

Also, I'm assuming that this new unit will be able to fully utilize the new Cingular 64k SIM. My understanding is that an unlocked AT&T SMT 5600, when fitted with a 64k Cingular SIM, will still behave as if it had a 32k SIM. I spoke to the owner of a local cell phone store tonight and he said that on his Motorola phone he got terrible coverage with the AT&T SIM but good coverage with a fully functional 64k Cingular SIM.

So, my question is this: will a Cingular version of the SMT 5600, with a fully-functioning 64k SIM get better reception than an unlocked AT&T 5600 with the same SIM? I had to return my AT&T SMT 5600 due to horrible reception in my area and opted for a Sprint phone instead. However, if the Cingular version gets much better reception than the AT&T unit, I may want to cancel my Sprint account and wait for the Cingular phone to be released. Trouble is, I only have 6 more days to cancel the Sprint account, so I need to find out about the Cingular unit in a hurry.

Much thanks,

reubkov

[Guest Dale1313]

There is no definate date...way back last year it was said they would carry the 5600 but nothing has of yet...I had the same problem with reception but I just simply went to settings>phone>Networks and choose the 310410 Cingular network..since then I have not dropped a call. I really don't know why so many people wanted to switch their phone over to cingular..when you can just choose their network for At&T. This way the mMode works and DL do not slow down like you pointed out. The price was a little higher but if you just tell the rep what you have they can throw in extra minutes just to get you through... I have a total of 2000 mins a month/1000 share mins/ with unlimited Mmode for $169.99 a month.

Hope that helps your decision. Other then that get the Mpx220 from cingular that has alot of the features. Either way I think you will regret it if you don't act now. Let us know what happens

Dale1313

[Guest McHale]

Yup, there are no "official" details on the Cingular release, but I imagine it will be exactly the same as the AT&T version with Cingular branding.

As far as the 64k SIM goes, I'm personally avoiding it. It's a band-aid to handle the 4 different networks' load balancing. By the end of the year, there will only be one network so at that point, the 64k SIM is useless. It won't even give you additional storage for names/numbers.

I have been on a 32k SIM since the launch of GSM and I've never had a problem with connecting and I travel all over. It's all a bunch of hype.

If you're considering the Audiovox, I would seriously consider the US version of the iMATE SP3i. It's basically the exact same phone without all the carrier branding (read that as crippeling). But iMATE is very good about ROM upgrades and I haven't seen one ever for the Audiovox.

-Mc

[Guest martin]

So, my question is this: will a Cingular version of the SMT 5600, with a fully-functioning 64k SIM get better reception than an unlocked AT&T 5600 with the same SIM?

The SIM won't make any difference to actual reception. If you manually select Cingular and then AT&T and get poor signal strength on both networks then you are unlikely to see any improvement.

The improved reception experienced by AT&T customers moving to Cingular is probably down to an increase in cell neighbours and associated adjacancies.

Phones don't generally handover between BTS sites on different networks therefore I imagine that the AT&T network architecture will be slowly migrated into the Cingular network and therefore Cingular SIMs will be allocated as and when AT&T customers complain of signal loss.

The best idea is to access both networks manually but as a preference you really want a good signal from Cingular.

[Guest Hamilogre]

I currently have an unlocked SMT5600 with AT&T and i get horrible coverage. I tried going to the networks setting, and setting cingular as the first one, but whenever i try to make any changes to the network settings, it says "Invalid password". I don't even see an option to enter a password. Anyone know what this is?

Thanks