[QtMoko] GSM not turning on / registering

[Michael Spacefalcon]

Nick <openmoko-community at njw.me.uk> wrote:

> Interesting results:
> [...]
> AT+COPS=?
> +COPS: (1,"T-Mobile ","T-Mobile","310260")
> OK
> [...]
> If I'm not mistaken the above means that only T-Mobile is found.  

Yes, it does.  310260 aka T-Mobile USA is the only thing your FR can
hear in the PCS1900 band.  Because your FR is the 900/1800/1900 MHz
version (like mine), there is no reliable way to tell if any GSM
services exist in the USA-secondary band at 850 MHz.

If you feel adventurous, you can go to ebay and get one of those Mot
C139 phones I mentioned earlier - it's an ultra-basic candybar
dumbphone that was made either EU-only or US-only, each version
supporting the low and high bands for its region, so the US version
supports both 1900 and 850 MHz.

> Which I'm guessing implies that AT&T have decided to turn off GSM 
> here. Which would be ... annoying.

Given that T-Mobile still provides GSM1900 coverage in your area (and
with good signal strength too, as far as I could tell from your
previous captured modem output), it seems to me that the proper thing
for you to do would be to close the feedback loop by promptly canceling
your AT&T service subscription, and making sure to tell their customer
service exactly why you are no longer interested in their 3G-only
services which do no good for freedom lovers like us.

I've been a T-Mobile customer since 2003, and I've been quite happy
with their service and plans.  The latter have been greatly simplified
when, because they only care about selling data and give voice calls
away for free, they eliminated all counting of minutes and SMS texts,
and set their lowest-end, most basic plan at $50/month for unlimited
calls, unlimited SMS and unlimited 2G data as in GPRS - i.e., their
lowest-end plan gives us unlimited, all-you-can-eat use of everything
that our FreeCalypso phones/modems are capable of using.  (CSD calls,
which work very nicely, at least in SoCal, are part of the unlimited
calls deal too!)

More recently I have heard that some T-Mobile MVNOs apparently offer
the exact same thing for less per month: that MetroPCS I mentioned
earlier say they only charge $30/month, and their description sounds
like the exact same thing that costs $50/month directly from T-Mobile.
In my own case I'm not interested in switching because my plan is not
just for me, but covers all of my family members too, and I'm a
strong follower of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" - but for someone
new who does not already have service with T-Mobile, looking into
these MVNOs would probably be a good idea.

After I send off this post, I'll make a quick trip to that MetroPCS
store I mentioned earlier, I'll bring my FR with me for testing, and
I'll ask them about Boston area.

VLR,
SF