Virginsim will be a good solution? - Page 3

SpookyET · #21 (**permalink**) 10-11-2008, 05:43 AM

I did not have problems with voice mail. Nevertheless, I got it disabled since I'm on prepaid now, and it double eats my minutes.

I wonder if we can get apple to get rid of all these damn cases from their store. It's false advertising. I have a few scratches on the bottom of the bezel, on on the right, a few at the top of the bezel, and a blemish on the top bezel. You can't see them unless you eyeball them. You really can't see them if they are hidden by fingerprints.

Since you have those scratches on your back, you may be able to use some type of wax if the iPhone is dyed, not painted like the bezel. As for the film,
The Zagg InvisiShield will hide scratches. There is a youtube video which hides scratches made by a key on the back of a black phone pretty good. The reason why it hides scratches is because the film isn't the most clear. It has an orange peel effect, which explains why they drive with it on top of the car on ad video on youtube. It's got good grip. BodyGuardz is better, you get double for your money. It's better film overall, but won't hide those scratches since it's far more clear and smoother.

I have found this interesting thread on how to remove scratches, but let's keep this on virgin sim topic. If you want to make a scratch-related thread, make a new one, and we'll talk there.

virgin-sim · #22 (**permalink**) 10-11-2008, 08:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by reznor9

now that you mention it, although visually they seem fine, the second batch that I recieved bends quite easily too. Some of them actually have a curviture to them when i attempt to lay them flat onto the simtray they arch up a bit, but of course the sim card flattens em when placed on top. I'm still not done testing the high speeds yet. I need to eleviate the possibility that it could be my sim or phone.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpookyET

I got lucky with one of the sample two red virgin sims. It detects signal immediately when driving out of a dead zone. So, I know that these virgin sims have high potential. The software is going in the right direction. The design of the adapter is very good. I hope he can fix the airplane mode problem.

The only major problem is manufacturing, which I hope he can fix. The IC chips are soldered manually and are also sanded. As you have noticed, there are no serial numbers on top of them. The 2mm of metal at the bottom needs to be very hard to prevent bending. I had no issues with the red samples, nor the black samples from the first batch he has sent me. But, the latest batch seem to bend too easily. Making them manually has a high degree of error.

I checked my stock, you two are right, some on the Virgin-sim has a bending problems, this I guess most likely to be caused during stacking up. We shall store them more careful. We shall enforce the strength of the metal in the future.

Thank you for pointing out .

reznor9 · #23 (**permalink**) 10-13-2008, 12:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpookyET

I do not have the same experience you have regarding dead zones. When I come out of a deadzone, it takes 5 minutes to detect the signal. If it has not detected the signal in 5 minutes, it never will, and I have to reboot the phone.

I tested my normal speed virgin sims for recovery when stepping in and out of dead zones and I am satisfied so far with the results.
When simply stepping in and out of a dead zone(I called my viocemail and waited for the call to FAIL and the carrier to say NO SERVICE), when stepping back into an area I know has signal the phone took anywhere from 30 seconds to a minute... it almost instantly showed TMOBILE as the carrier but took 30 seconds to a minute to show any bars, and sometimes took another 30 seconds to a minute to show an active edge connection.
When stepping into a dead zone for an extended period of time, say 5 mins, and I even tested for being in the dead zone for over an hour... the phone took with multiple tests anywhere from 1 to 3 minutes. 3 minutes is rounding UP too... most times it never hit 2 minutes but one occasion it went over 2 minutes so we will round up to 3 for the sake of argument.
Conclusion: NO REBOOTING REQUIRED
dead zone(short period): 30 seconds-1minute recovery(allow another min for edge somtimes)
dead zone(extended period): 1 minute - 3 minute recovery(allow another minute for edge sometimes)

SpookyET · #24 (**permalink**) 10-13-2008, 01:22 AM

That's not the case anymore. I have a working red one that finds signal immediately, as in 0-10 seconds.

reznor9 · #25 (**permalink**) 10-14-2008, 08:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by reznor9

Received my 2nd set of samples today. package came with 5 high speed, and 2 normal speed virgin-sims. I was very excited to try these, and Im sorry to report that NONE of the 5 high speed versions worked on my 3G. The 2 normal speed versions work, and none required any sanding or modifications to fit. all of them slid in and out of the sim tray as easy as if it werent there at all. I cant imagine why they wouldnt be responsive?
The phone totally ignores the fact that a sim card is in the phone.
I get the messaged in a big popup, "No SIM card installed."
Under normal circumstances this is wht would happen if I placed a sim in to the phone(supported or not)
1)the popup message would disappear
2)the area where the carrier name is currently displaying "NO SIM" would disappear while it checks the card and searches for the network
3)with no carrier name present it would still show the signal strength bars, well it would show a little small bar meaning no signal while it is checking the sim
4)finally it would display NO SIM in the corner and the popup would reapear.

I would think that even if the virgin sim didnt work, it would at least detect that the sim has been inserted, read it and then deny it... but it doesnt even detect it. All 5 of the high speeds had the same end result. The iPhone didnt even flinch when I inserted them. I messed around with them for a good half hour sliding them around moving the sim and virgin sim ever so slightly to see if maybe something isnt making contact but still unresponsive. I know I should be satisfied testing out the normal speed one because it is continuing to work great, but Im just bothered that the high speed will not work.
The craftsmanship on the virgin sim seems high, and doesnt seem to have any visual defects so, the problem has to be with my sim or my iPhone I would think. I have a friend at work that has a 3G also, but he is with ATT.. so I'll see if he will allow me to try it on his. My inlaws have an older sim card, so Ill try it with theirs too. Im hoping to get to the bottom of this. Its really bugging me.

But at least the normal speed sim is working great!

UPDATE: I finally was able to test the high speed virgin sims using my father in laws old tmobile sim. I was excited to see that it actually detected the sim and upon a reboot it finally worked. What I wasnt excited about was the fact that the normal speed sims seemed to work better and possibly faster. First things first.
The problem I reported earlier with a problem getting incoming calls and SMS was still present, while outgoing calls and sms worked just fine. After some tinkering around I was able to recieve calls sms messages. But It was kind of annoying that I had to keep rebooting and calling myself until I started recieving calls. If I was away from my house phone and had to reboot for some reason, I would have no idea if I was able to recieve calls or not.
As for data, I wasnt able to test that since my father in law doesnt have the internet on his plan/sim. I assume it works though since it did for everyone else that has tried it and since no one has had problems thus far with virgin sim data. But never say never.
Now for the speed test.
Upon 15 reboots with the high speed sim, after the springboard loaded it took roughly 2 - 4 seconds to get signal bars but would take another 10 - 15 seconds to show the carrier as T-Mobile(not sure if that matters at all).
Upon 15 reboots with the normal speed sim, after the springboard loaded it also took roughly 2 - 4 secods to get signal bars and would instantaneously show T-Mobile as the carrier.

So in conclusion:
both the high speed and normal speed seemed to take the same amount of time to get signal, but the normal speed version was a lot faster at detecting the carrier name(again Im not sure if that matters).
Although both high speed and normal speed work, the high speed would not work with newer 128 BIT Tmobile sim cards and required an old US TMobile sim to work(in which the use of an old sim has always caused a problem with my voicemail alerts).
Although I have experienced a problem in both high and normal speed in regards to problems with incoming calls and sms, the normal speed sim seemed to be more stable and less prone to this error.
I was unable to compare the speed of how fast the two regained signal when going through dead zones as I didnt have any dead zones to play with while using the high speed viginsim. But if it is anything like the normal speed(would expect it to be faster) then you will be more than happy.
Im hoping that in the future the high speed virign sim will be compatible with newer us tmobile sim cards, as this limitation would alienate a large sum of tmobile customers that have the newer sims such as myself.
When this problem is solved and a new test sample is produced, I will be happy to test it.

BTW @ all other testers: Has anyone else experienced the anomaly that causes the loss of incoming calls and sms while using the virgin sim? or is it just me?

ranova · #26 (**permalink**) 10-14-2008, 08:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by reznor9

UPDATE: I finally was able to test the high speed virgin sims using my father in laws old tmobile sim. I was excited to see that it actually detected the sim and upon a reboot it finally worked. What I wasnt excited about was the fact that the normal speed sims seemed to work better and possibly faster. First things first.
The problem I reported earlier with a problem getting incoming calls and SMS was still present, while outgoing calls and sms worked just fine. After some tinkering around I was able to recieve calls sms messages. But It was kind of annoying that I had to keep rebooting and calling myself until I started recieving calls. If I was away from my house phone and had to reboot for some reason, I would have no idea if I was able to recieve calls or not.
As for data, I wasnt able to test that since my father in law doesnt have the internet on his plan/sim. I assume it works though since it did for everyone else that has tried it and since no one has had problems thus far with virgin sim data. But never say never.
Now for the speed test.
Upon 15 reboots with the high speed sim, after the springboard loaded it took roughly 2 - 4 seconds to get signal bars but would take another 10 - 15 seconds to show the carrier as T-Mobile(not sure if that matters at all).
Upon 15 reboots with the normal speed sim, after the springboard loaded it also took roughly 2 - 4 secods to get signal bars and would instantaneously show T-Mobile as the carrier.

So in conclusion:
both the high speed and normal speed seemed to take the same amount of time to get signal, but the normal speed version was a lot faster at detecting the carrier name(again Im not sure if that matters).
Although both high speed and normal speed work, the high speed would not work with newer 128 BIT Tmobile sim cards and required an old US TMobile sim to work(in which the use of an old sim has always caused a problem with my voicemail alerts).
Although I have experienced a problem in both high and normal speed in regards to problems with incoming calls and sms, the normal speed sim seemed to be more stable and less prone to this error.
I was unable to compare the speed of how fast the two regained signal when going through dead zones as I didnt have any dead zones to play with while using the high speed viginsim. But if it is anything like the normal speed(would expect it to be faster) then you will be more than happy.
Im hoping that in the future the high speed virign sim will be compatible with newer us tmobile sim cards, as this limitation would alienate a large sum of tmobile customers that have the newer sims such as myself.
When this problem is solved and a new test sample is produced, I would be happy to test it.

BTW @ all other testers: Has anyone else experienced anomaly that causes the loss of incoming calls and sms while using the virgin sim?

Ive never had any problems with incoming calls\sms, I tested thoroughly at random for a few days.

Your signal is weird also. I INSTANTLY get signal AND carrier detection, upon reboot, once I see the main screen its already there - while the normal speed takes me 10-15 seconds to get signal and carrier. This is also the case going from a deadzone.

Do you know anyone you can test on an older iphone 3g with 2.0 still? (at least the modem 01.45.00 version)

reznor9 · #27 (**permalink**) 10-15-2008, 12:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ranova

Ive never had any problems with incoming calls\sms, I tested thoroughly at random for a few days.

Your signal is weird also. I INSTANTLY get signal AND carrier detection, upon reboot, once I see the main screen its already there - while the normal speed takes me 10-15 seconds to get signal and carrier. This is also the case going from a deadzone.

Do you know anyone you can test on an older iphone 3g with 2.0 still? (at least the modem 01.45.00 version)

No I dont have access to an 3G with older firmware. All the 3G's that my family and friends have are actually serviced with AT&T, so they too have the latest firware and modem firmware.

That may be the reason I am having somewhat different results than the rest of you.
for those just tuning in

I am currently on firmware 2.1
modem firmware 02.11.07

Are there any other virgin sim testers running the latest firmware and modem firmware? I want to know if we have similar results.

virgin-sim · #28 (**permalink**) 10-15-2008, 06:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ranova

Ive never had any problems with incoming calls\sms, I tested thoroughly at random for a few days.

Your signal is weird also. I INSTANTLY get signal AND carrier detection, upon reboot, once I see the main screen its already there - while the normal speed takes me 10-15 seconds to get signal and carrier. This is also the case going from a deadzone.

Do you know anyone you can test on an older iphone 3g with 2.0 still? (at least the modem 01.45.00 version)

We have to admit that we encountered some technique problems with our High Speed VirginSim which work extreme fast in some occasions. Some sim cards has a differnt voltage as required by High Speed version to work properly. So the test results are rather inconsistent. So we shall postpone the launch of our High Speed version until we are sure it will work as expected.

For the time being,a ebayer " isimcom" is selling our Normal Speed VirginSim , with a free High Speed VirginSim for each purchase of a Normal Speed VirginSim. So it will give some people to have a chance to experience the fun of extreme high speed network search, provided that he is lucky enough to have the "compatiable sim card", while still can enjoy the already fast enough Normal Speed VirginSim.

reznor9 · #29 (**permalink**) 10-15-2008, 08:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by virgin-sim

We have to admit that we encountered some technique problems with our High Speed VirginSim which work extreme fast in some occasions. Some sim cards has a differnt voltage as required by High Speed version to work properly. So the test results are rather inconsistent. So we shall postpone the launch of our High Speed version until we are sure it will work as expected.

For the time being,a ebayer " isimcom" is selling our Normal Speed VirginSim , with a free High Speed VirginSim for each purchase of a Normal Speed VirginSim. So it will give some people to have a chance to experience the fun of extreme high speed network search, provided that he is lucky enough to have the "compatiable sim card", while still can enjoy the already fast enough Normal Speed VirginSim.

Im standing behind 100% the virgin sim solution as it is the best one that Ive tried so far, but on the ebay page it says that it requires no jailbreak and that it starts working immediatly out the box... is this true?
I only ask because when I upgraded to 2.1 and used quickpwn(which doesnt activate the phone) it wouldnt let me access the springboard. It told me to plug into iTunes and gave me the option to make emergency calls only. I then had to create a custom firmware to activate and jailbreak the phone before I was able to use it. Again, this might be something that is due to my modem firmware being 02.11.07, but its something I would look into before people buying it are peeved that its not working as advertised...
then again, maybe its the wording, it says all you have to do is activate your phone via itunes then plug in the virgin sim... a little misleading because I believe in order to activate it through iTunes you either have to be an AT&T customer or use pwnage tool(though i could be wrong)...AFAIK, which might confuse some noobs when they buy a 3G and try to use it for the first time.

PSLiNK · #30 (**permalink**) 10-15-2008, 09:26 PM

Copied from the other thread:

Just wanted to update on Virgin Test Result.

I have the high speed version.

I'm currently in Cambodia for vacation. Here's my test result.

Country: Cambodia
Carrier: qb
3G Calls in/out: Yes
3G SMS in/out: Yes
3G Data: YES!!! 180kbps!!

Note: qb is a 3G (UMTS) ONLY network.

BTW, I tried a card that is HSDPA, it did not detect at all. It just says NO SIM.

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