unbranding gsm solutions

flodis79

What will they charge me for unbranding?

pauln

I'm not sure if they will even do it. I'd say go into one of those repair shops and they might be able to flash it with the original firmware.

What make of phone is it, I'm doing the same thing to my Sagem V-55 this week. I just went to meteor and all the Vodafone crap just isn't right. I always hated "branding" anyway, I mean I paid for the phone so give it to me as the manufacturer intended without all your crap!! :mad:

jlang

pauln wrote:

I mean I paid for the phone so give it to me as the manufacturer intended without all your crap!! :mad:

But they see it as 'we subsidised your phone, so we want to remind you of that at every possible moment!'

JohnnyMobile

pauln wrote:

I mean I paid for the phone so give it to me as the manufacturer intended without all your crap!! :mad:

you didnt pay full price for the phone, you got it subsidised. If you wanted to pay for it and get it without branding buy one sim free and pay full whack for it and stop moaning.

pauln

jlang wrote:

But they see it as 'we subsidised your phone, so we want to remind you of that at every possible moment!'

Ya I know, It's such a pain. They make the phone look crap and usually cripple the interface with all their shortcuts and what.

Anyway latelly I'm starting to see it as "Buy the phone unlock it and unbrand it" and say thanks to the company for part funding the purchase .
It wouldn't be this way if they just left it alone. I mean the phone is the same whether they put their firmware on it or leave it as stock, and their customers would be happier if they just left it alone. But then Vodafone for one don't seem to worry about customer satisfaction so I bailed out and went to meteor.

JohnnyMobile wrote:

you didnt pay full price for the phone, you got it subsidised. If you wanted to pay for it and get it without branding buy one sim free and pay full whack for it and stop moaning.

No I agree totally, but I just don't like the branding It's a new trend in the mobile market and I just don't think it's necessarily one. They managed to sell unbranded phones a long while.
As for the stop moaning, not enough people in this country of ours stand up and speak their mind on issues, that's how we've ended up with "Rip of Ireland" and a inadequate government, but that's a discussion for another day.

JohnnyMobile

pauln wrote:

I mean the phone is the same whether they put their firmware on it or leave it as stock, and their customers would be happier if they just left it alone. But then Vodafone for one don't seem to worry about customer satisfaction so I bailed out and went to meteor.

you obviously know alot about this....
The interface and branding are not all that each operating company change with their version of firmware. Some operators demand certain standards with regard to air interface signalling etc and have the pull to get handset manufacturers to address certain issues before they will release their phones. Therefore you end up with a better version of firmware then the handset manufacturer would normally get away with releasing.

Obviously their are exceptions when new technologies are involved example WAP on the nokia 7110 and 3G on the 6630 but these are often resolved quickly.

pauln

JohnnyMobile wrote:

you obviously know alot about this....
The interface and branding are not all that each operating company change with their version of firmware. Some operators demand certain standards with regard to air interface signalling etc and have the pull to get handset manufacturers to address certain issues before they will release their phones.

I would think that all phones entering any market place would comply with the neccessary GSM/GPRS/FCC etc.. regulations and standards and therefore anything a manufacturer gets added/changed is simply to make it more to their liking. I mean any one of these phones will work perfectly well on the Irish market without being branded so it doesn't add anyting to the phones useability.

JohnnyMobile

pauln wrote:

I would think that all phones entering any market place would comply with the neccessary GSM/GPRS/FCC etc.. regulations and standards and therefore anything a manufacturer gets added/changed is simply to make it more to their liking. I mean any one of these phones will work perfectly well on the Irish market without being branded so it doesn't add anyting to the phones useability.

well you think wrong. GSM standards are quite easy to comply with so go buy a palm tungsten w stick a sim in it and try use GPRS on Vodafone in Ireland.... why do you think it wasnt approved by Vodafone? because palm wouldnt fix all of the issues with it. Oh look theres a lovely FCC sticker on the back..... I trust it will work anywhere now!!

pauln

JohnnyMobile wrote:

well you think wrong. GSM standards are quite easy to comply with so go buy a palm tungsten w stick a sim in it and try use GPRS on Vodafone in Ireland.... why do you think it wasnt approved by Vodafone? because palm wouldnt fix all of the issues with it. Oh look theres a lovely FCC sticker on the back..... I trust it will work anywhere now!!

Well that's a fair point, you'd think standards would be just that, Standard! They are for most things, phones must be an exception.
Since the Palm doesn't meet with the Irish definition of the standards your not going to see it here with branding on it anyway so it's not likely to be a problem with that or any phone not "approved" for the Irish market.

Will all of the "approved" phones work in their unbranded formats in Ireland?

JohnnyMobile

pauln wrote:

Well that's a fair point, you'd think standards would be just that, Standard! They are for most things, phones must be an exception.
Since the Palm doesn't meet with the Irish definition of the standards your not going to see it here with branding on it anyway so it's not likely to be a problem with that or any phone not "approved" for the Irish market.

Will all of the "approved" phones work in their unbranded formats in Ireland?

see thats the issue. They are approved by different operators. So, to use the tungsten w for example, it meets all the regulations set out in gsm standards but the way it trys to establish its pdp context for a gprs session is not compatible with some networks. It may well be approved on VF UK for example but VF IRL might not approve it because they may be more stringent in what they require.

Then you may have other operating companies that might not have a large budget for terminals testing and they might just go along with what the handset manufacturer claims.

Dont for one minute think that I like branded phones!!! because I dont but my point is that some operators invest alot and have the global leverage to make handset manufacturers adress software issues. These might not all be fixed and ready to go out of the box but are constantly worked on by the opco and handset vendor.

For the record my phone has been flashed with a non-vodomised version of software

flodis79

Motorola V525 is the one I try to unbrand from Voda IRL.
So GSM Solutions cannot do it?

Gillo

pauln wrote:

I mean I paid for the phone so give it to me as the manufacturer intended without all your crap!! :mad:

with a nice big subsidy from the network, if you want to buy an unbranded phone, Buy it sim free without any subsidy.

A-Trak

Just a quick question, does flashing your phone invalidate the warranty?

Had quick ask around and seems to be a bit of a grey area. Does it invalidate the manafactuers waranty even if you flash it with their own software?

Also what if you install nokia softwrae on a nokia simbian without removing the operator o/s.
I installed field test net monitor on my 6630 and still have the vodafone s/w on it (works brilliantly btw locking on to 2.5G)
What position does this leave me in should I need to get it repaired for a hardware fault?

Gillo

I imagine unless you are a nokia authorised repair technician, then yes it does invalidate the warranty.

JohnnyMobile

A-Trak wrote:

Just a quick question, does flashing your phone invalidate the warranty?

Had quick ask around and seems to be a bit of a grey area. Does it invalidate the manafactuers waranty even if you flash it with their own software?

Also what if you install nokia softwrae on a nokia simbian without removing the operator o/s.
I installed field test net monitor on my 6630 and still have the vodafone s/w on it (works brilliantly btw locking on to 2.5G)
What position does this leave me in should I need to get it repaired for a hardware fault?

to be honest if there was a hardware or software fault you could just drop it into the mprc and they dont even bother checking anything like that and just flash it with the latest version of software, its been the same ever sincke the days of netmon on the 6210.

Id say you would be fine.

A-Trak

JohnnyMobile wrote:

to be honest if there was a hardware or software fault you could just drop it into the mprc and they dont even bother checking anything like that and just flash it with the latest version of software, its been the same ever sincke the days of netmon on the 6210.

Id say you would be fine.

Cheers Johnny, about what I'd thought. Just that I'd seen some bizarre mprc engineeers reports come back in terms of insurance claims & the like...

"User had inserted non recomended peripheral into handset"
The non recomended peripheral being a usb cable!

JohnnyMobile

A-Trak wrote:

Cheers Johnny, about what I'd thought. Just that I'd seen some bizarre mprc engineeers reports come back in terms of insurance claims & the like...

"User had inserted non recomended peripheral into handset"
The non recomended peripheral being a usb cable!

Yeah Ive seen things like that come back myself on occassion but vast majority are just repaired unless its physical user damage or water damage... just about anything else can be disputed... of course if you dropped the phone in with a 3rd party pop port electirc toothbrush adapter or some other such strange contraption hanging off the end of it they might ask a few questions

JohnnyMobile

JohnnyMobile wrote:

Some operators demand certain standards with regard to air interface signalling etc and have the pull to get handset manufacturers to address certain issues before they will release their phones. Therefore you end up with a better version of firmware then the handset manufacturer would normally get away with releasing.

I can't agree with this. I spotted at least three bugs in the Vodafone firmware on the Motorola V550 (R376_G_0E.65.25R/SE7463AXXB807C):

• Type a smiley character in an SMS, e.g. :-) , and the iTAP goes crazy and won't interpret your input properly.
• The Resize Image function doesn't work, it just crashes if you try.
• The brightness control doesn't work.

I reflashed my phone to the stock Motorola firmware and two of the above problems were resolved (the iTAP and resize image). The brightness control seems to be a problem with the TFT, it will work on a transflective TFT (V600/620) but not a transmissive one (V525/550).

So no, I don't think that branded phones have better firmware, they actually seem to be more buggy than stock.

JohnnyMobile

Im talking about early releases ... of course with time newer releases will address known bugs. I am talking about the difference between an operator approved initial version of software and a non-operator approved INITIAL version of software.

Anyway you should be put down for buying a Motorola handset to begin with

I'm guessing that you work for Vodafone or something. And so what if I bought a Motorola handset, you don't know me and you're certainly in no position to judge me.

Vodafone's attitude disgusts me. Thanks to their evil software I don't have my Nokia 6630 anymore. So I settled for the V550 because I wanted something that would actually let me use MP3 ringtones and didn't have crippled Bluetooth (i.e. Sharp GX25). I'd never buy a Vodafone phone again. Hell, if I wasn't in a contract with them I'd be gone in a flash.

JohnnyMobile

Karsini wrote:

I'm guessing that you work for Vodafone or something.

haha... continue guessing.
Im sure Vodafone wouldnt miss you, you sound like a right whinging mobile user...

Ive had my say on the merits of operator installed software ... if you have a problem with it buy a handset simfree or dont come back moaning like a lilttle child who didnt get what they wanted.

Port over to Meteor and use your 6630 on their 3G network.

JohnnyMobile

JohnnyMobile wrote:

haha... continue guessing.
Im sure Vodafone wouldnt miss you, you sound like a right whinging mobile user...

I wouldn't miss them either, can't even get coverage in my own bedroom. Also noticed I can't make international calls either. I was with O2 initially, should have just stayed with them.

It's not just me with this "whinging" attitude. I know several people who got their phones reflashed and I also know someone who makes a living out of it.


Anyway, I'll stop now before a flame war starts.

JohnnyMobile

Karsini wrote:

I wouldn't miss them either, can't even get coverage in my own bedroom. Also noticed I can't make international calls either. I was with O2 initially, should have just stayed with them.

It's not just me with this "whinging" attitude. I know several people who got their phones reflashed and I also know someone who makes a living out of it.


Anyway, I'll stop now before a flame war starts.

wow someone that makes a living at it.... woooo is he making 1 million a day profit ?? Vodafone Ireland are.

Tell you what give them a shout tell them you cant get coverage in your bedroom and they might send someone out to stick a microcell at your window... then you would be moaning about getting cancer from the cell.

R Ramirez

Karsini wrote:

I wouldn't miss them either, can't even get coverage in my own bedroom. Also noticed I can't make international calls either..

firstly. no network can guarantee coverage in a house.. secondly, if ur a user who isnt going to generate much revenue for a network they may require you to pay an advance payment to lift the international bar.. just incase u decide that u cant pay ur first bill

JohnnyMobile

JohnnyMobile wrote:

wow someone that makes a living at it.... woooo is he making 1 million a day profit ?? Vodafone Ireland are.

Tell you what give them a shout tell them you cant get coverage in your bedroom and they might send someone out to stick a microcell at your window... then you would be moaning about getting cancer from the cell.

You just don't know where to stop. Yeah, Vodafone are making €1 million a day, hence the infamous "rip off Ireland" that we all live in. 13c a text??? That is absolute madness. Just saw O2 UK offering a tariff including 100 minutes and 500 texts OR MMS messages for £25 a month! We get screwed when it comes to mobile charges. And my brother wants to migrate to the highest Perfect Fit plan, but just because he hasn't a 3G phone they won't let him? Is that fair?

There's no point in me talking about switching operators until February 2006 at least, so there's no point in making smarmy comments about me moving to Meteor or anyone else for that matter.

JohnnyMobile

Karsini wrote:

You just don't know where to stop. Yeah, Vodafone are making €1 million a day, hence the infamous "rip off Ireland" that we all live in. 13c a text??? That is absolute madness. Just saw O2 UK offering a tariff including 100 minutes and 500 texts OR MMS messages for £25 a month! We get screwed when it comes to mobile charges. And my brother wants to migrate to the highest Perfect Fit plan, but just because he hasn't a 3G phone they won't let him? Is that fair?

There's no point in me talking about switching operators until February 2006 at least, so there's no point in making smarmy comments about me moving to Meteor or anyone else for that matter.

and you didnt know this before you signed a contract? you didnt know what the charges were? silly silly 12 month contract for a motorola ewww Id feel cheated too

The contract was for a Nokia 6630. I ended up getting the V550 in a Ready to Go upgrade pack after seeing that the 6630 was crippled.

I certainly knew what the charges were, but Vodafone turned out cheaper than O2 since everyone else I know is with them. Just the text rate drives me ballistic, the call charges aren't too bad, better than 63c/min for O2, lol.

R Ramirez

f/QUOTE]

JohnnyMobile wrote:

and you didnt know this before you signed a contract? you didnt know what the charges were? silly silly 12 month contract for a motorola ewww Id feel cheated too

i couldnt have put it better myself.. u should have researched into what u were paying for before u signed a 12 month contract.. no else is to blame but u

flywheel

hello JohnnyMobile, The Mobiles / PDAs board is a place to ask questions, share information and help out on matters related to Mobiles and PDA, posts should be helpful, relevant, good natured and on-topic

the tone of some of your replies in this thread are outside that remit, here is this boards README: Rules & About the Mobiles / PDAs board... in case you missed it before posting

many thanks.

JohnnyMobile

Hi,

I began explaining why phones are branded etc and then get bogged down in the usual anti Vodafone rubbish.

The chips on peoples shoulders is unbelieveable. I am not going to bother getting into a defensive arguement as I have better things to do.

Good morning.

Gillo

JohnnyMobile wrote:

I am not going to bother getting into a defensive arguement as I have better things to do.

I'm with JohnnyMobile on this one, it's of extreme importance that JohnnyMobile proves beyond all reasonable doubt that he know best on everything.