Motorola V400
IMEI numbers
with GSM the IMEI number that your service provider (Cingular for me) has from your phone doesn't matter does it? They only identify with your SIM card number right? I ask because I recently tried an LG 1400 to compare to my V400. The rep changed my IMEI in the system and she said that it didn't really matter, but she would do it anyway. Well i decided to return the LG and keep my V400, this time the rep didn't change my IMEI back, now I am having terrible problems making and receiving calls from my V400 at my house where I have full (max bars) signal. Outgoing calls take several tries to go through, and calls to me go straight to my voice mail. Could this have anything to do with my IMEI number? I will get it changed back, but do you ...
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Good question... I honestly don't know how/if Cingular (or any other provider for that matter) uses the IMEI number for security on their service. For that matter, I don't know anything more than the fact that every GSM phone has it's own IMEI number which the phone companies can keep track of when they're used on the GSM network.
If you weren't having those problems with your V400 before trying the other phone, it does sound like something they changed, such as the IMEI number, being the root cause.
So, in other words, I do think your problem sounds like something on Cingular's end that customer support is going to have to fix and the switched IMEI number is the most obvious possibility.
Sorry I can't help more, good luck with it.
If you weren't having those problems with your V400 before trying the other phone, it does sound like something they changed, such as the IMEI number, being the root cause.
So, in other words, I do think your problem sounds like something on Cingular's end that customer support is going to have to fix and the switched IMEI number is the most obvious possibility.
Sorry I can't help more, good luck with it.
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thanks for your input on this, it turns out that my IMEI was wrong in the system, but the unusually knowledgeable rep that I spoke to on the phone said that it was more likely tower problems in my area (Athens, GA). She said that GA has 170 towers down (what???) due to hurricanes moving through and an imbalanced number of users trying to contact individual towers bringing them down. Apparently, even in full Cingular coverage areas (like Athens) they have agreements with other carriers to utilize their towers (without the user ever knowing) and I was "on a T-Mobile tower that was currently down". But she corrected my IMEI and re-activated my V400 anyway and today the problem seems to be gone. I always thought that we only used other tower...
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Glad to hear it's working well for you now.
Actually as I understand it (though the companies don't tell you this) ALL of the major nationwide cell companies have deals with each other to share GSM towers. Phones will generally only switch to other companies' towers when the signal from your provider's towers drops down to 1 bar or worse for a short while.
One cool thing about the generic V600 flexware I have on my V400 is that it will show which companie's tower it is using; so when my Cingular connection degrades enough for it to switch to, for instance, a T-Mobile tower, "Cingular" on the phone LCD changes to "T-Mobile". So I always know whose tower I'm using.
With all these hurricanes you'd almost think "The Day After Tomorrow" was ...
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Actually as I understand it (though the companies don't tell you this) ALL of the major nationwide cell companies have deals with each other to share GSM towers. Phones will generally only switch to other companies' towers when the signal from your provider's towers drops down to 1 bar or worse for a short while.
One cool thing about the generic V600 flexware I have on my V400 is that it will show which companie's tower it is using; so when my Cingular connection degrades enough for it to switch to, for instance, a T-Mobile tower, "Cingular" on the phone LCD changes to "T-Mobile". So I always know whose tower I'm using.
With all these hurricanes you'd almost think "The Day After Tomorrow" was ...
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