[Sorry I meant 1800 MHz, not 1900 MHz. Also forgot to copy to
alt.cellular.attws as we're supposed to be doing.]


Greg wrote:

> I had also thought about the GAIT issue, but with discounted it since
my SE was showing such high strength of something.

You'll often see a good signal that you can't use with both GSM and CDMA
if there is no roaming agreement with whoever the signal belongs to.

The reason I would think that GAIT had something to do with it with the
6340 is because it's likely that any AMPS service there belonged to
either Cingular (AT&T) or Verizon, and the Cingular AMPS would be fair
game for non-roaming service (and perhaps the Verizon AMPS as well).

> I'm not technical enough to know for sure, but I would have thought
that my GSM phone would not even know a TDMA signal existed.

I think it's a mistake to believe that the GSM signal that your SE phone
picked up was the same signal that the GAIT phone was actually using in
the past.

Remember that the 6340 would not pick up a 900 MHz or 1800 MHz GSM
signal, but the SE will. There are too many variables here to be sure of
anything, but the whole reason for the GAIT phones was to be able to use
the more extensive AMPS and TDMA networks while the GSM network was
being built out.

> My 6340 didn't really tell me when it was in GSM, TDMA, or AMPS mode
so I wouldn't have known if it was switching. I do know that I had no
trouble making or receiving calls and didn't have any extra charges
(roaming or otherwise) on my bill after returning home.

Because you were probably not roaming, you were probably on AT&T's AMPS
network, if it existed there. There also may have been a roaming
agreement with the other AMPS network. Last time I roamed onto the
Cingular/AT&T AMPS network on my Verizon handset I was not charged
roaming, and I assume that this is because Verizon once had a roaming
agreement with AT&T Wireless for AMPS.

Maybe you could use the 6340 on your trips to St. Thomas, and the SE at
other times.




[Copied to alt.cellular.attws. Please post all alt.cellular.cingular
posts to alt.cellular.attws as well. The Cingular name is going away,
and alt.cellular.attws is the proper venue for posts regarding AT&T's
Wireless Service.]