Nokia 6102i

I am thinking about upgrading my cingular service phone from a Nokia 6340i
(Gait Phone) to the newer Nokia 6102i. I want to do this because my old
6340i keyboard is starting to fail, and I can no longer get ear pieces that
will fit the old style connector at the bottom of the phone. The cingular
store I called suggested I stick with a Nokia phone because I live in a weak
area, and that they have better reception with the Nokia phones in weak
areas. I have heard that from more than one source. The two phones they
suggested were the 6102i and the 6030. I kind of prefer the folding phone
(6102i). I was worried about giving up the "Gait" feature and losing the
ability to connect to TDMA as well as GSM. The cingular rep claimed I would
get better coverage and reception with the 6102i than I now do with the old
6340i. I would appreciate any comments or experiences you have with the
6102i, or any comments about me giving up the gait feature. Charles
Ranheim.

On Mon, 5 Feb 2007 12:18:13 -0500, "cranheim"
<caranheim@sbcglobal.net.net> wrote in
<rFJxh.52336$QU1.26427@newssvr22.news.prodigy.net> :

>I am thinking about upgrading my cingular service phone from a Nokia 6340i
>(Gait Phone) to the newer Nokia 6102i. I want to do this because my old
>6340i keyboard is starting to fail, and I can no longer get ear pieces that
>will fit the old style connector at the bottom of the phone.

If you like the 6340i, you should be able to get a good (new or used)
replacement on eBay
<http://cell-phones.search.ebay.com/6340i_Cell-Phones_W0QQcatrefZC12QQfromZR40QQsacatZ146487>
and the connector really shouldn't be an issue -- adapters are readily
available, likewise headsets with that connector.
<http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?satitle=6340i+headset>

>The cingular
>store I called suggested I stick with a Nokia phone because I live in a weak
>area, and that they have better reception with the Nokia phones in weak
>areas. I have heard that from more than one source.

Urban legend. Better phones from Motorola, Sony Ericsson, and others,
actually have radio performance as good as (or better than) the Nokia
6102i.

>The two phones they
>suggested were the 6102i and the 6030. I kind of prefer the folding phone
>(6102i). I was worried about giving up the "Gait" feature and losing the
>ability to connect to TDMA as well as GSM. The cingular rep claimed I would
>get better coverage and reception with the 6102i than I now do with the old
>6340i.

Probably not.

>I would appreciate any comments or experiences you have with the
>6102i, or any comments about me giving up the gait feature.

If you find GAIT useful, and like the 6340i, why change?

--
Best regards, FAQ FOR CINGULAR WIRELESS:
John Navas <http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cingular_Wireless_FAQ>

I wouldn't get the 6102i because I know 3 people who had this phone and they
all had them replaced with insurance because they break easier than some
other designs.

"cranheim" <caranheim@sbcglobal.net.net> wrote in message
news:rFJxh.52336$QU1.26427@newssvr22.news.prodigy. net...
>I am thinking about upgrading my cingular service phone from a Nokia 6340i
>(Gait Phone) to the newer Nokia 6102i. I want to do this because my old
>6340i keyboard is starting to fail, and I can no longer get ear pieces that
>will fit the old style connector at the bottom of the phone. The cingular
>store I called suggested I stick with a Nokia phone because I live in a
>weak area, and that they have better reception with the Nokia phones in
>weak areas. I have heard that from more than one source. The two phones
>they suggested were the 6102i and the 6030. I kind of prefer the folding
>phone (6102i). I was worried about giving up the "Gait" feature and losing
>the ability to connect to TDMA as well as GSM. The cingular rep claimed I
>would get better coverage and reception with the 6102i than I now do with
>the old 6340i. I would appreciate any comments or experiences you have with
>the 6102i, or any comments about me giving up the gait feature. Charles
>Ranheim.
>

"cranheim" <caranheim@sbcglobal.net.net> wrote in message
news:rFJxh.52336$QU1.26427@newssvr22.news.prodigy. net...
>I am thinking about upgrading my cingular service phone from a Nokia 6340i
>(Gait Phone) to the newer Nokia 6102i. I want to do this because my old
>6340i keyboard is starting to fail, and I can no longer get ear pieces that
>will fit the old style connector at the bottom of the phone. The cingular
>store I called suggested I stick with a Nokia phone because I live in a
>weak area, and that they have better reception with the Nokia phones in
>weak areas. I have heard that from more than one source. The two phones
>they suggested were the 6102i and the 6030. I kind of prefer the folding
>phone (6102i). I was worried about giving up the "Gait" feature and losing
>the ability to connect to TDMA as well as GSM. The cingular rep claimed I
>would get better coverage and reception with the 6102i than I now do with
>the old 6340i. I would appreciate any comments or experiences you have with
>the 6102i, or any comments about me giving up the gait feature. Charles
>Ranheim.
>
I replaced my 6340i with a 6102i and I am am very pleased. The GAIT phone
will ultimately be of no advantage. The info below refers to this.
If you plan on using your mobile phone to access the internet then I suggest
the LG CU400 as a reasonable and good phone that allows G3 service. The
6102i only offers the Edge service which is slower. I definitely would give
up the 6340i.

"The reason GAIT phones are being treated as TDMA is that they appear on the
TDMA HLR (home location register) on the network. Once the TDMA HLRs get
retired, the remaining GAITs will get rehomes to the GSM HLR, but there will
be annoyances with GAITs that search for TDMA signals whenever the GSM
signal strength gets weak. It's something called a scan-lock cycle, when it
appears that the phone will not work.

Anyway, it sounds like you found something that was, at least, somewhat
satisfactory. As far as transferring the numbers from your GAIT phone to
your new 6102i, it is not that hard to do. First, make sure your old GAIT
SIM has all the numbers stored on the SIM (if it doesn't, use the GAIT
phone's menues to copy them there). Next, put the GAIT SIM into the 6102i,
and go through the 6102i's menus to copy the numbers from the SIM to the
handset. Finally, switch SIMs (ending up with the new SIM in the 6102i),
and copy the numbers from the handset back to the SIM. You may wish to skip
this last copying step, if you prefer having your numbers on the phone."

> I replaced my 6340i with a 6102i and I am am very pleased. The GAIT phone
> will ultimately be of no advantage. The info below refers to this.
> If you plan on using your mobile phone to access the internet then I
> suggest the LG CU400 as a reasonable and good phone that allows G3
> service. The 6102i only offers the Edge service which is slower. I
> definitely would give up the 6340i.
>
> "The reason GAIT phones are being treated as TDMA is that they appear on
> the TDMA HLR (home location register) on the network. Once the TDMA HLRs
> get retired, the remaining GAITs will get rehomes to the GSM HLR, but
> there will be annoyances with GAITs that search for TDMA signals whenever
> the GSM signal strength gets weak. It's something called a scan-lock
> cycle, when it appears that the phone will not work.
>
> Anyway, it sounds like you found something that was, at least, somewhat
> satisfactory. As far as transferring the numbers from your GAIT phone to
> your new 6102i, it is not that hard to do. First, make sure your old GAIT
> SIM has all the numbers stored on the SIM (if it doesn't, use the GAIT
> phone's menues to copy them there). Next, put the GAIT SIM into the
> 6102i, and go through the 6102i's menus to copy the numbers from the SIM
> to the handset. Finally, switch SIMs (ending up with the new SIM in the
> 6102i), and copy the numbers from the handset back to the SIM. You may
> wish to skip this last copying step, if you prefer having your numbers on
> the phone."

Thanks to those who responded to my question. I really like the style of the
LG phones over the Nokia phones. The reason I keep looking at the Nokia line
is that I have been told by more than one cingular outlet that the Nokia
phones work best in low signal areas on their network. I happen to live in a
low signal area. I wish I could find a comparision chart showing the
sensitivity of the most common cell phones. I definately would not want to
have a phone that is not as sensitive as my 6340i. I use my cell phone from
home for long distance calls. I did notice the 6102i did not look as rugged
as some of the other phones. The other post did mention some people had
their 6102i phones break. I guess I better spend a little more time looking
at the choice of available phones. I do not mind paying more for
sensitivity and reliability. Charles Ranheim
>
>
>