I have creepy technology. I swear it is trying to covertly drive me insane, or maybe dh is!

[FaithManor]

So we are having trouble getting a cell phone for me that works in the area and inside our brick house as well. I am currently carrying my old cell phone as well as my youngest boy's phone.

 

The sim card for my phone is in his phone so all of my calls and texts are supposed to be coming into his phone. Mine I am carrying just a reference to see where it has signal and what strength while comparing to the other phone.

 

The old phone with son's sim card in it is getting MY phone calls and texts. Son's cell phone with my sim card has reverted to French! Good is French, Facebook is French.....meanwhile it does not get my phone calls or texts.

 

I am living some weird, Hollywood technology is stalking you creepster screen play or something.

 

 

I suggested to high tech hubby that possibly when he was switching sim cards that he made a mistake and didn't actually switch them. This was met with a look. The kind of look techie people give untechie people, the look that says, "Oh you ignorant newbie....this is of course not possible! "

 

It makes sense to me. When sis was home from France, since her cell phone didn't work stateside, she carried around ds's phone, and it would not shock me if she had it set to French. She is getting to the place she thinks and speaks more in French than in English. But no...THE LOOK!

 

And ds would not notice this because he nevah carries his phone, evah. As in, "Ds, we are dropping you at the robotics seminar. Would be nice if you actually carried your phone, and read texts so that we can tell you what entrance we are parked near." (This is followed by a stare, an eye roll, a sigh, and a putting of said cell phone into a pocket.) So seriously his phone could be set to French for months, and he would not know it.

 

But, THE LOOK!

 

So either the phones are doing some sort of Amityille Horror Show thing to me, or dh made a mistake and will not admit it because playing with my brain is funny.

 

Grrrr....

 

Don't ask what my kindle was up to yesterday...it was some serious HAL taking over the ship and killing of the crew kind of stuff. I could hear the theme music playing in my head as I wrestled with the nasty beast.

[Catwoman]

I blame your husband. :D

[FaithManor]

I blame your husband. :D

Thank you! Thank you very much! I do not think it is fair that my options are HAL has possessed the phone or I am certifiably insane.

[gardenmom5]

Thank you! Thank you very much! I do not think it is fair that my options are HAL has possessed the phone or I am certifiably insane.

 

HAL was my first thought.   (there was a 2001 pic on bing today).

 

did you know you can dl a hal screensaver?

[FaithManor]

HAL was my first thought.   (there was a 2001 pic on bing today).

 

did you know you can dl a hal screensaver?

NO WAY!

 

Nope...not doing it. Don't need the phone to be any creepier than it already is. 

[Lanny]

OK.  First, if you are in a weak signal area, and, if you are in the USA, there are still 2 (?) major providers there whose networks use CDMA technology.  CDMA is best when the signal strength is weak. GSM requires a very strong signal.  I think this is what I would do. Those are both GSM phones.  I would take the SIMs out of them.   I would do a "Factory Reset", which will/.should set everything back to the way the phones were when they left the factory.  Then, I would put the SIM you believe is your SIM into the phone you want to use. Then I would put the other SIM into the other phone. From "the other phone", I would place a call to your phone number and see if that phone rings.  If not, the SIM cards are in the wrong phones.

 

Warning: If you do a Factory Reset, it will wipe out all of your settings and you will need to reinstall your Apps, etc. If they are Androids, I think the Apps will install by themselves, but if not, log into the Google Play Store on your laptop or Desktop and Install the Apps you want to use from there and magically they will be installed onto your phone.

 

The Language Setting should be among "Settings" somewhere.  You can switch it back to English there and that will make using it easier, unless you a good with French.

 

QC (Quality Control) can vary wildly, between the same model phone, depending upon the manufacturer. Years ago, after we switched from CDMA phones to GSM phones, my wife and I both had Sony Ericsson W300i Walkman phones. Sony Ericsson apparently has/had *horrible* quality control, with both HW (Hardware) and SW (Software).  We could be sitting at our dining room table, with our phones near to each other. My phone would have a signal and her phone had no signal.  Sometimes, my wife just about had to stand on her head, on the Jacuzzi or somewhere, to get into a location where her phone had a signal so she could use it when she was inside the house. 

 

OH....  If in the future you should be interested in a new Android phone that is not in the expensive price range, early last year, I asked our neighbor, an Electronic Engineer for a major provider, which brands he thought connect to their cells the best, with the fewest issues, etc. He told me that he thinks  Motorola and Samsung.  He told me that of the last 5 phones he's gotten, 3 are Motorola and 2 are Samsung. A lot of "bang for the buck" or in our case, for the  Peso.  In our house, we have 3 Motorola phones, 1 Lenovo phone (Lenovo bought Motorola Mobility) and my old (2014) Samsung. All of them work perfectly. Samsungs are a little harder to use, because they make a lot of changes to Android.  Motorola has a rather pure version of Android.  I would rather spend a little more, and get a Motorola. Or, get a Lenovo. Easier to use.  I have been using this Samsung for approximately 10 or 11 months now, and now, I cannot remember the differences between it and the Motorola I gave to DIL, but I bet if/when I go back to a Motorola, or to a Lenovo, it will be easier ot go through the Menus.

 

GL in solving this mystery!

[FaithManor]

Thanks Lanny! You are awesome!

 

I am good with French, so that part doesn't bother me so much, LOL.

Edited April 3, 2017 by FaithManor

[gardenmom5]

I don't know where you are - we'd always been on verizon.  generaly didn't have signal issues (thought dh complained about dropped calls.)  we switched to t-mobile, 'cause' they were having a huge deal, aaaannnndddd, we're close to their US headquarters.  gotta have good service right? nope. we had no service in dh's office (which was in our basement at the time.)  when monday morning rolled around - we went back to t-mobile and cancelled.

 

ds has ting which uses sprint's networks.   they're spotty in our basement - and a few other places. ds will walk around looking for bars. but they're cheap.

 

so, we're back to verizon becasue we've had the best coverage from them.   I'm afraid to try anyone else.

[FaithManor]

I don't know where you are - we'd always been on verizon.  generaly didn't have signal issues (thought dh complained about dropped calls.)  we switched to t-mobile, 'cause' they were having a huge deal, aaaannnndddd, we're close to their US headquarters.  gotta have good service right? nope. we had no service in dh's office (which was in our basement at the time.)  when monday morning rolled around - we went back to t-mobile and cancelled.

 

ds has ting which uses sprint's networks.   they're spotty in our basement - and a few other places. ds will walk around looking for bars. but they're cheap.

 

so, we're back to verizon becasue we've had the best coverage from them.   I'm afraid to try anyone else.

We are in the thumb of MIchigan not far from Lake Huron which is according to pretty much the whole world, MARS, and one can expect reception appropriate to that location! Sigh....

 

There is a local service, but they are horrifically priced, and terrible rates for out of state, and international calling which doesn't work too well for us as we go across Canada all the time to get to Albany to visit dd and family, plus we travel off continent as well, and with the rocket team not to mention business travels are out of state a bit too. So the local place just isn't usable without costing a fortune.

 

Seriously, our town JUST got cable. No joke. The people in the bio-dome in Antarctica probably have better cell phone reception and utilities than we do!

[TravelingChris]

We have Verizon since when we moved back to the US 11 years ago, (which was when does Verizon commercials with the person going outside by a trash can and saying Can you hear me now? were on).  We had phones from Europe which were GSM and so we went with T-Mobile first.  After all, they had a kiosk in the base BX.  They had a kiosk there but the base was on the island as were we and we had to go out to the trashcan area to try to make a call.  So we looked online to see who serviced the area and it was Verizon.  Kept it in VA because had no real reason to switch.  Get to AL and was thinking about switching.  After all, all these carriers are supposed to be somewhat equal, right?  Wrong!   Verizon is still the only one that services not my city but areas in the county next to us.  Especially for dh and ds, who cave, having service there is critical. We are with Verizon for the foreseeable future.  I would check coverage maps for all the major providers.   

[Lanny]

We are in the thumb of MIchigan not far from Lake Huron which is according to pretty much the whole world, MARS, and one can expect reception appropriate to that location! Sigh....

 

There is a local service, but they are horrifically priced, and terrible rates for out of state, and international calling which doesn't work too well for us as we go across Canada all the time to get to Albany to visit dd and family, plus we travel off continent as well, and with the rocket team not to mention business travels are out of state a bit too. So the local place just isn't usable without costing a fortune.

 

Seriously, our town JUST got cable. No joke. The people in the bio-dome in Antarctica probably have better cell phone reception and utilities than we do!

 

Since you travel to other countries, you need to have Unlocked GSM phones that have radios for the GSM bands in use in the countries you visit. .

 

NOTE: When you install a SIM card into a phone, if the Contacts are stored on the SIM card, when the SIM card is installed, probably the contacts will be copied into the phone, automatically.  That makes a mess of the Contacts list. Ask me...  Last year, I changed phones, 2 or 3 times. My Contacts list now has 3 entries for my wife, for one example.

 

There are web sites that have articles comparing different providers. Sometimes one in the USA can save money, by using a virtual provider, and still be on a good network. We are on a Virtual Provider here (Virgin Mobile Colombia) and they use the Movistar network. Movistar has a cell tower on the edge of our HOA property, about one block by air from our house, so we get really good coverage now and they pay rent to the HOA for having the tower on our land.   :hurray:

 

Google for comparisons of Cell phone providers and you may find another company that has better coverage in your area and is better for your family and the way you use cell phones.  

[Lanny]

@transientChris      I think Verizon is one of the 2 or 3 providers in the USA that is still using CDMA service. If one is in an area where the coverage is weak, CDMA is the way to go. The signal can be extremely weak, with CDMA, and one can communicate. That's impossible with GSM. GSM requires a strong signal.  

[Janie Grace]

My phone's word suggestions (I can't think of the official name) are Turkish about 20% of the time. I have no idea why.

[TravelingChris]

Yes, Verizon has cdma but we have Galaxy phones so when dd travels to New Zealand in July, she will be able to use it there too since it has LTE too.

[school17777]

I have creepy technology going on here too! I was watching my favorite movie downstairs (Count of Monte Cristo) and came upstairs to get dd ready for bed. Upstairs, the movie was on in Spanish! It took 15 minutes to get it switched to English and by then the movie was over and on the credits. No idea how the default setting got changed to Spanish in the first place.

[Lanny]

My phone's word suggestions (I can't think of the official name) are Turkish about 20% of the time. I have no idea why.

 

Probably it was originally intended to be sold in Europe or in the Middle East and that is why it includes Turkish in the dictionary. Is Turkish one of the options for Language Setting for the phone? (English, Spanish, French, etc.)

[Lanny]

Yes, Verizon has cdma but we have Galaxy phones so when dd travels to New Zealand in July, she will be able to use it there too since it has LTE too.

 

Yes. If you have a Samsung Galaxy phone, you need to confirm, before she goes to NZ, that the phone she has has radios for the GSM bands in use in NZ. If so, it will work there, if it is "Unlocked".   When I googled, I got this, which may or may not be correct:

 

"Vodafone operates a GSM (2G) mobile phone network at 900 MHz and 1800 MHz, a UMTS (3G) network at 900 MHz and 2100 MHz, and a 4G LTE network on 1800 MHz, with supporting 4G frequencies on 2600 MHz and 700 MHz."

 

You need to check the *exact*  model number of your phone, to see which GSM bands it has radios for. You can find the exact model number by checking in the Settings for the phone.  Also, possibly on a sticker under the battery.  Easier to check the Settings for that.

 

Here's a link:  http://www.gsmarena.com/network-bands.php3?sCountry=NEW+ZEALAND and there it shows:

 

 

NEW ZEALAND 2G capabilities GSM 900, GSM 1800 3G capabilities UMTS 850, UMTS 900, UMTS 1800, UMTS 2100 4G capabilities LTE 700, LTE 1800