[holden]

Originally Posted by ifonline

Good point. I don't have hand-off issues because I normally am not in 3G coverage, or even in fringe 3G coverage. If I were, my opinion might be different. Let me restate my previous opinion: When I am in EDGE only coverage, the phone works great and battery life is great. When I am in 3G coverage, again the phone works great and battery life is great. Never noticed when driving when the phone switches from 3G to EDGE, so I can't really comment on that.

Hi Ian;

Yes, this shows that the device will work in non 3g networks. It appears that the real challange for the Bold is negotiating connectivity in complex areas...
Thanks for sharing as I did not completly understand how this was to work without a 3g network...

H.

[atisvt99]

Originally Posted by Caspan

OK I am here to add to the pot of furry. I have a AT&T Bold unlocked on the Rogers Wireless network. When I go to my settings I do not have any option to select 2G, 3G, 2G &3G. The only option I really do get is to manually select my network. After it does some searching i can pick from a 2G tower by Rogers or a 3G tower by Rogers. I have selected the 2G tower and my device switches to the EDGE network. Within 10 minutes its back on the 3G network. So I believe also that it has to do with my vender ID on the SIM/device that says I'm on the Rogers service and the OS locks out the features. So if there is anything you want to test on a AT&T phone unlocked on a Rogers network let me know.

It really also pisses me of that I can't switch to 2G only. I want some more battery life as well. I only want to use 3G when doing GPS routing etc. I would really like to figure out how to turn it off myself.

... Wow, that was a long quote. Anywho... I'm seeing the *exact* same thing while over in Kuwait. I have an ATT branded BOLD, and when I switch the network to Manual, I can chose a 2G tower... the phone switches to EDGE for a bit, but goes back to 3G in < 10 minutes... I gotta tell ya, I'm kinda missing my Pearl over here... this is a pain in the butt. My problem was detailed in another Bold thread... but I can't perform most of my data functions when in 3G mode over here. The local carrier (WATANIYA) seems to be having some issues with 3G working Data coverage. I can't send/receive e-mails at all, and telephone/SMS service is spotty at best... As soon as the device flips back to EDGE (and I'm not sure what causes it to flip) I get all my e-mails dumped in, and sent out... *sigh*

[atisvt99]

Here's a snippet that I posted over in the '3g international data issues' thread - also in the bold section of bbforums...

... ALSO... I called the ATT International Data Help Desk and talked to a couple of very helpful people. The first young woman did all of the basic trouble shooting for a problem of my nature (I knew none of it would work, and assured her several times the 'switch to 2G option' she was having me look for was not there, but stayed friendly and played the game none the less...) and just before she transferred me to the International Data Engineers Team, she gave me the unlock codes for each of the Bold devices I have with me. Now I'm unlocked - super...

Next I spoke with a young man who was a little more my speed (read: nerdy) and while we didn't really make any progress, he did tell me that the problem is a real one, and that people at ATT are just starting to grasp it (he confirmed that "the blogs and forums are all true... international 3G data is broken for the most part")... he also told me that the problem was indeed a hardware issue in that the 'lock' for 3G only service when it is available has been programed into the ROM for ATT BOLD devices. I asked him if an update in the future could fix it and he said he really wasn't sure at this point how they were going to fix it. In any case, we did a couple of reboots, and verified a few things on my device and account... he created a ticket for me, said it would be escalated again for advanced testing, and that I would receive a call back in 72 hours (either on my BOLD or on a local cell number I gave him...)

... for those of you keeping track... I'll post my findings if they are relevant.

[jnelson2000]

Originally Posted by jinksy86

Alright, I'm going to have to disagree with the post above and say it's specifically the SIM, and here's why...

It is NOT in the SIM. This is because an AT&T SIM works fine in an unlocked Rogers Bold and can switch networks.

AT&T Bold with AT&T SIM cannot switch networks

AT&T Bold with a Rogers SIM cannot switch networks

It is burned into the devices firmware branding. This is confirmed by speaking to a director at RIM.

I have a conference call tomorrow with a senior director at AT&T about this issue and reasoning. Will post back findings in the next day or two.

[whsbuss]

Originally Posted by jnelson2000

It is NOT in the SIM. This is because an AT&T SIM works fine in an unlocked Rogers Bold and can switch networks.

AT&T Bold with AT&T SIM cannot switch networks

AT&T Bold with a Rogers SIM cannot switch networks

It is burned into the devices firmware branding. This is confirmed by speaking to a director at RIM.

I have a conference call tomorrow with a senior director at AT&T about this issue and reasoning. Will post back findings in the next day or two.

Let us know who you make out. AT&T is clueless on this issue.

[jnelson2000]

Just got off the phone (called me tonight from his cell). The reason why you cannot switch between 2G and
3G is that they (AT&T) felt that letting the device select the best network was the way to go. It was an executive decision and not a technical one of their 3G network.

This restriction is in the branding of the device.

[ritzthekracker]

I find that so ridiculous on the part of AT&T, as most people on here know AT&T's 3G coverage is crap especially in my area where I am constantly loosing signal as my bold switches between 3g and edge. Thats one of the main reasons why the iPhone 3g came with the option of choosing and should have been incorporated into the Bold as well. I really think everyone should continuously complain to AT&T about this until something gets done.

[pinhead]

So, this means that different OS versions wouldn't fix the issue...right?

[jnelson2000]

Originally Posted by pinhead

So, this means that different OS versions wouldn't fix the issue...right?

correct

[OzzieDog]

I live right smack in the middle of 3G coverage according to AT&T map. The best my second Bold can do is EDGE. The Motorola my wife has, has no trouble acquiring 3G, the two Samsung my kids have can acquire 3G. AT&T Customer Service told me that the problem was I didn't activate the phone correctly they took IMEI number from Bold and disabled my old SIM and activated the SIM card that came with phone, and still NO 3G. Maybe Bold is not so Bold after all and nothing but a piece of Junk. My two cents

[mikefarb]

I have the same problem. I am in the middle of a 3G area. I am on my 3rd Bold. It usually turns on in 3G but within minutes goes to edge. When it does stay on 3G as soon as I use the browser or CV it goes to edge. All 4 other phones in my house and all other phones I have had have 5 bars 3G and hold the connection. There are areas where I go where 3G is usable but it should be here as well. The odd thing is once my phone goes to edge at home it stays there until I either soft reset or travel to a different tower. Otherwise the phone is great but I just do not understand this. For a phone that is supposed to look for 3G it seems that the opposite is happening.

[Caspan]

I would like to close this thread once and for all with this reply.

I was talking to a friend from RIM last night about the whole issue and said "I'm getting sick of the 1 day battery life out of these things! Is there no way to give me this option on the AT&T phone"? He chuckled a few times and said "No it's built into the hardware and AT&T asked for this"

Wanting the inside deal I wanted to know if he knew anyway of unlocking this or software he might be able to get his hands on to trick it or correct it. Again he said unless you are a developer for RIM and might know a work around but there is nothing. If they have the issue they just get another phone from work that has it and trade theirs in.

I asked why AT&T would do such a thing to their phones and he said that it was because AT&T's 2G network is saturated to the point of being bottle necked and they can't afford to have a huge device like the Bold bringing it down more. You can imagine the stuff you could do with the device for data services not to mention its a new device and everyone wants it. So AT&T wanted to give the users no option to go back it's 3G or nothing. I could understand this answer and the person I was talking to would know this answer and I trust it to be very backed with inside knowledge.

So there is the answer everyone was looking for.

It is built into the hardware of the device, they were built for AT&T and other carriers that wanted 3G only.

It can't be unlocked by different OS version from providers that allow the feature.

There is no way to change this other then buying an unlocked device from a provider that gives you the option

[whsbuss]

But as mentioned in the 3G international data thread, AT&T never thought there would be a problem w/3G data in certain overseas countries. How do we get data if we can't switch to EDGE/2G when the problem occurs?

[Caspan]

It does it automatically

[Digital Mayhem]

hmm interesting my Brother-in-Law has a AT&T Bold (Unlocked) and using it with TMobile and his works with Edge just fine... He has no issues so appears to be negotiating with TMobile 2G just fine.

[jweinraub]

I like to add some two pence here, as I have an AT&T branded bold, with a Cingular SIM card. I bought the phone unlocked on ebay, though it did piss me off as I got an AT&T phone as I really wanted the unbranded one since I knew the pferdscheiss AT&T does to the firmware (though not as bad as Verizon). I really don't care about 2G/3G as much, but the fact they cripple it, bothers me. I HATE the white numbers, I am waiting for the red one from Hong Kong on an ebay auction with an unbranded bottom part.

I work for an electronics company. You say the firmware is branded with a vendor code. I can burn chips here, so what do I need to do (JTAG machine i think it is) so that there is non-specific? If I got an unbranded phone, what is vendor id set to by default? I like to get rid of the at&t logos, though on browser half the time its at&t and half the time its blackberry logo, i prefer all bb logo.

To answer the question here at hand, my phone is unlocked and i still cant change 2G/3G options, there is no option listed. I haven't tried other sim card, but the phone is unlocked, but i like to try tmobile sim card to see if that makes difference.

[whsbuss]

From what others have reported, the AT&T branded bold has the 2G/3G option hardware locked. So no SIM card change, OS, or unlocked device will get the option on the bold.

[Caspan]

If you are good with chip reprogramming you might get lucky to figure this out and switch a single bit in the devices firmware to make it not think it is an AT&T phone. Again Im not sure if it is hardware with a chip on the board or Firmware is custom programed. Please note the is a difference between software and firmware. If you do ever figure it out you would make a lot of money reprogramming peoples phone to get rid of the lock.

[TheBigNewt]

Take home message is: buy your Bold from Rogers, not ATT. Then you'll be OK on ATT's network, Tmobs network, whatever. Or if you want to wait, get an 8900!

[Caspan]

Originally Posted by TheBigNewt

Take home message is: buy your Bold from Rogers, not ATT. Then you'll be OK on ATT's network, Tmobs network, whatever. Or if you want to wait, get an 8900!

Well yes duh... that's like going to the doctors and saying "It hurts when i go like this....." then the doctor says"hummm...... well don't go like that then!"

It's the obvious solution but not the right one. We are trying to find a software hardware hack to disable this lock.