Info on Orange & T Mobile

[amg_1969]

Looks like they got it working, My Desire is on Orange and my Wildfire is on T Mobile, in the pic they are both using the other network, Desire now on T Mobile and Widfire now on Orange.

Useful for me as my house is out of Orange 3G coverage but get good H reception on T Mobile

 

[Jason71]

Unfortunately you can only roam 2G so as per your picture you will only get GPRS when roaming on T-mob until the network merger is complete.

 

[ianb11]

How do you have your mobile network settings so you get this?

Are you on automatic?

 

[Das_Jeeb]

I've registered on the orange site but when i try and switch to tmobile I get an error saying my sim won't allow it - is it just a case of going in to wireless & networks >mobile networks>network operators > select automatically?

 

[amg_1969]

How do you have your mobile network settings so you get this?

Are you on automatic?

Just playing I set them up on manual, Orange/T Mobile recommend automatic, just curious to see it it worked ok, sent text messages from each to the other phone and its fine.

 

[amg_1969]

I've registered on the orange site but when i try and switch to tmobile I get an error saying my sim won't allow it - is it just a case of going in to wireless & networks >mobile networks>network operators > select automatically?

Have you had the text message asking to to reply yes? If so I got another message telling me to reboot the phone to make the change work, also have you enabled data roaming on your phone? It will not work without you enabling that.

 

[ianb11]

As above though you don't get 3G or H if you're contracted to Orange but use T Mobile signal?

 

[amg_1969]

Unfortunately you can only roam 2G so as per your picture you will only get GPRS when roaming on T-mob until the network merger is complete.

True, but Orange reckon January for 3G on both, will be big benefit in our house when it does

 

[Das_Jeeb]

Have you had the text message asking to to reply yes? If so I got another message telling me to reboot the phone to make the change work, also have you enabled data roaming on your phone? It will not work without you enabling that.

Yeah i got the confirmation text that they'd made the changes, have enabled data roaming data and have restarted my phone but i still get the error message when trying to switch to tmob manually. I'll leave it for a while and see if i can change it then.

 

[Hadron]

How do you have your mobile network settings so you get this?

Are you on automatic?

Yes, set it to automatic network selection (if that isn't already done). The registration process tells you to do this.

If "Data Roaming" is off then you'll get notifications if it switches to T-Mobile about loss of connectivity. If you turn it on, don't forget you've done so if you leave the country - you wouldn't want to accidentally run up international data roaming charges (the biggest rip-off the mobile operators have ever dreamed up IMO).

 

[ianb11]

True, but Orange reckon January for 3G on both, will be big benefit in our house when it does

Yeah I'm looking forward to this as well.

3G is chronic on Orange where I live.

Just tried it on mine & I have Orange T-Mobile as well.

 

[Hadron]

Yeah i got the confirmation text that they'd made the changes, have enabled data roaming data and have restarted my phone but i still get the error message when trying to switch to tmob manually. I'll leave it for a while and see if i can change it then.

Are you set to WCDMA-only? Because it's only 2G roaming, if you force the phone to use 3G and then tell it to use the other network you get this message.

Set GSM/WCDMA auto or GSM only and you'll be able to set T-mob manually.
For 2G/3G auto, let it connect to your home network in that mode before forcing it onto T-mob (if you switch mode and immediately try to select network it may not actually set the auto-switching up before trying to connect, and so give the same problem as before).

 

[Das_Jeeb]

I got a SIM update overnight and can connect to the tmobile network now. Just a shame we can't get the tmobile 3G service yet as my friends say the data connection is excellent.

 

[Member 94720]

I've done all the above but get a 'Your Sim Card Does Not Allow A Connection To This Network' message, is this because I've unlocked my SIM (I did this as part of the debranding)? I can manually select Orange and it works fine, if I try and select Orange T-Mobile it gives the above error. If I set it to auto select I end up with no signal.

 

[benjiharris]

Hi there

I have set this all up, but just out of interest, what does the 'R' mean above the signal symbol in the notifications bar mean?
Its awesome they have done this - I am in a place on campus where I never used to get signal on Orange and now have full signal connected to Orange Tmobile.
But just wandered what the R means?
Thanks

 

[Jason71]

It means "Roaming" because as far as the phone is concerned Orange is still your home network but the sim gives the phone permission to roam to Tmobile.

 

[Das_Jeeb]

I've done all the above but get a 'Your Sim Card Does Not Allow A Connection To This Network' message, is this because I've unlocked my SIM (I did this as part of the debranding)? I can manually select Orange and it works fine, if I try and select Orange T-Mobile it gives the above error. If I set it to auto select I end up with no signal.

I had this problem last night. Although I got the text from orange saying they'd done the update it wouldn't work until I got a further text through which told me to reboot my phone (this happened overnight).

I'd just wait a few hours and you should get the next text through.

 

[matttye]

I've set my phone up to use T-Mobile permanently now

My contract is with Orange but T-Mobile is so much better. The frustrating thing about Orange is that I get 3-4 bars of signal, send a text, my phone says it has sent, but the Orange network doesn't deliver it sometimes for 6+ hours (rare), but oftentimes for 2-3 hours. I was told this is because there isn't an Orange mast for like 1.5 miles of where I live or something (wonder why the coverage map says "very good" service then, and why my phone advertises 4 signal bars?), but the same thing happens where I work (in a city with "excellent" orange coverage).

In contrast, T-Mobile delivers messages instantly and I'm also receiving messages instantly. The difference is amazing

Best thing to happen for these two companies!!

 

[Das_Jeeb]

Do you not miss having a decent data connection though?

 

[matttye]

Do you not miss having a decent data connection though?

Not really.

T-Mobiles 2G connection is sufficient to check/comment on Facebook, and I get WiFi at home.

If I need to check my emails or the web I'll just temporarily go back to Orange then go back to Tmo after.

 

[lesta legend]

had issues with the t mobile connection not coming through as it worked perfectly the day previously, plus couldn't connect manually. so I called orange.
they confirmed
- that you can't connect manually - although this goes against what anybody else had said, even orange themselves.
- then contradicting herself she said if you connect manually you will get a charge.
- she also said the connection would only change to t mobile if the connection was zero, again even orange before said it would connect to the best available mast.
can anybody confirm the actual situation? I hold no faith in Orange currently.

 

[Hadron]

had issues with the t mobile connection not coming through as it worked perfectly the day previously, plus couldn't connect manually. so I called orange.
they confirmed
- that you can't connect manually - although this goes against what anybody else had said, even orange themselves.
- then contradicting herself she said if you connect manually you will get a charge.
- she also said the connection would only change to t mobile if the connection was zero, again even orange before said it would connect to the best available mast.
can anybody confirm the actual situation? I hold no faith in Orange currently.

From my observations:
- You certainly can connect manually. I've done this several times.
- She was right about it only switching to T-Mob if you lose Orange signal completely. My phone prefers Orange in my office, even though T-Mob is stronger.
Can't comment on "charging if you switch manually" but that sounds unlikely to me. Wouldn't be the first time a CS rep has bluffed rather than admit ignorance (not a comment that's specific to Orange). No promises though.

 

[jdo330]

had issues with the t mobile connection not coming through as it worked perfectly the day previously, plus couldn't connect manually. so I called orange.
they confirmed
- that you can't connect manually - although this goes against what anybody else had said, even orange themselves.
- then contradicting herself she said if you connect manually you will get a charge.
- she also said the connection would only change to t mobile if the connection was zero, again even orange before said it would connect to the best available mast.
can anybody confirm the actual situation? I hold no faith in Orange currently.

The truth is your home network will always be the handsets preferred network. Ie, if you were originally on Orange the device will always revert back to Orange when the coverage returns (its the same for TMUK). It doesnt matter if your Orange signal is slightly better than TMUK (or vice versa) - coverage is coverage I guess.

You can switch permanently to either network manually and stay there (ive only done this on my company paid Blackberry so dont know what the HTC settings are. On my BB there is a setting "select auto mode when manually selected network is unavailble" and ive set this to "no"). Another thing worth noting is that transition between networks during a call is not seamless so if you run out of coverage during a call it will drop. The device will pick up the strongest signal on either network allowing you to redial.

In terms of costs, you will not be charged for switching networks. Some devices will receive a text advising that your roaming an will be charged but this is a glitch which will no doubt get fixed soon.

3G roaming on both networks is due to launch on in January. This is a more tricky thing to fix so could be delayed a month or so although it is a top 10 priority within the business (sorting out the management team and immediate structure is higher up the agenda *read as making people redundant*).

I hope this helps.

Regards, Jon.

 

[Woolli3]

Now we just need an app/widget to toggle between two mobile networks

 

[jaybea830802]

can anybody confirm the actual situation? I hold no faith in Orange currently.

I was having the same problem until I rebooted the phone (I tried going into Airplane mode and off again first thinking that would do). Now I can manually select the Orange T-Mobile network where the signal at work (London EC1Y) is far better than Orange. There is currently no data signal at all on Orange here, as usual, so the lack of 3G on T-Mobile will not make much difference. Thank goodness for WiFi!

I see from the Register here that we Orange users will also get access to the 3 3G network because 3 have a sharing agreement with T-Mobile.