Tips and Tricks for Nokia Phones Mobile Articles
If you have a Nokia phone, you probably want to know all the neat things you can do with it. Along with the tips and tricks, I’ll also cover some of the known issues with the phone. This should save you having to ask. Note that some of the tips may apply to other Nokia phones than the models listed. These are simply the models on which I know that the tip applies.
Last Updated: 19-Mar-2003
Volume Adjustment in Noisy Environments
Applies to: 6190, 6310i Updated: 19-Mar-2003
Quite a few Nokia models (beyond the two listed above) have a great feature that makes these phone much more useable in noisy environments (such as crowded shopping malls or while walking down a busy street). When the phone detects that you are in an especially noisy area it boosts the volume of the earpiece by upwards of 5 dB (this value is an educated guess). It doesn’t even matter if you already have the phoned cranked up to full volume, as the level will still be boosted.
On recent tests I performed with the 6310i, the extent to which this feature worked was amply demonstrated. I stood on the Mavis bridge over Highway 403 in Mississauga during rush hour, which is a pretty noisy place to be. Just to speak with someone standing next to you, it would be necessary to raise your voice to the point of almost shouting. I then called 611 on Fido to listen to the front-end recordings. As many Fido users know, these recordings are not especially loud, and it is even worse in Mississauga, as that area is served by Nortel equipped sites, which are noticeable fainter than the Ericsson sites still found in many other places in Southern Ontario. Despite all that, the phone boosted the volume high enough that I could hear every word spoken without straining to do so.
Can I Change the Volume with Field Test Mode Activated?
Applies to: 6188, 6185, 6160, 6120 Added: 14-Mar-2000
At times it appears impossible to change the earpiece volume during a call if Field Test Mode is activated. Unlike the 6190, none of the other 61xx models have volume controls on the side. They instead rely on the cursor up/down buttons on the main keypad. When in Field Test Mode, pressing the up and down buttons merely moves the phone from one screen to another. However, there is a mechanism in the phone to switch it between adjusting the volume and moving through the Field Test screens.
This screwed me up when it first hit me, but I have now figured out how the mechanism works. If you find you cannot adjust the volume in a call with Field Test Mode activated, then do this: press a key, then press and hold the Clear soft key for a second or two. This will toggle the mode back and forth between volume and moving through screens.
Why does the 6185/6188 Signal Strength Meter Make no Sense?
Applies to: 6188, 6185
There are essentially two things that we can display on a signal strength meter. The first is RSSI, which is short for Received Signal Strength Indicator (or something like that). This is a simple measurement of the signal strength with no consideration given to noise or other problems that may plague the signal. For non-CDMA systems this is probably a reasonable measurement, even though noise does play a roll in diminishing the performance of all phones.
In CDMA however, signal strength alone does not necessarily tell us how good the call will be. How many of you have had poor audio using a CDMA phone when it shows a 2 or 3 bar signal? In this case the strong signal did not translate into good audio. Most companies choose to display the more traditional RSSI on their phones, since they obviously believe it makes more sense to the end user.
The second thing we can measure is the Carrier-to-Interference Ratio (or Ec/Io). This measurement essentially ignores the overall strength of the signal and instead concentrates on how much better the desired signal is to the noise that conspires to interfere with it. Nokia chose to use this method for its 61xx CDMA models.
With this in mind, it is therefore possible to observe a low meter reading in an area where you know the signal is strong, and get a high reading in an area where the signal is weak. This doesn’t completely explain the weird behavior of the 6185/6188 meter, but I have a possible explanation for the sudden drops to no bars that it makes. When the 6185 changes to a different PN Offset at idle it drops the meter to zero until it can establish the new Ec/Io. I think Nokia will likely “fix” this in the future, while having the meter retain its old reading until the new one can be calculated. This won’t give users heart attacks by making them think the signal has disappeared.
So is the use Ec/Io a good idea then? In my opinion: yes and no. The information it provides is far more relevant to the type of call you’ll end up with than pure RSSI, but it is foreign to most cell phone users. So on one hand it gives us truly useful signal quality measurements, but at the same time it confuses the hell out of us when we see 2-bar readings while standing next to a cell site. It also fluctuates quite a bit over time, even when the phone remains stationary. I don’t know if Nokia will change this in future firmware revisions, but much depends upon the public’s overall reaction to this “strange” new idea.
Changing the Banner on Your Display
Applies to: 3390, 6190, 5190, 6188, 6185, 6160, 6120, 6310i
You can’t change the banner on a GSM model per se, but you can do something even better. Many of Nokia’s phones allow you to upload what is called an Operator Logo. This is a 14×72 pixel graphic image that takes the place of the network name of your screen. On phones without IR or Bluetooth, you’ll need a data cable and a copy of some appropriate software such as LogoManager. Yes the 6310i can do this too, though I’m not sure why there appears to be any doubt over this.
Unfortunately, Operator Logos do not always work. It’s never been completely clear why, but the blame seems to fall on certain SIM cards. Whether this is true or not, you may find that your phone doesn’t display the graphic image even after you have followed the instructions to the letter.
The 3390 can receive Operator Logos over-the-air as SMS, and you also set what is known as a Screen Saver. This is a full screen graphic image that appears while your phone is “idling”.
Changing the banner on your 6188 and 6185 phone is fairly simple. Do the following:
1) Type *3001#12345#
This will put your phone into programming mode, and you’ll be presented with the programming menu.
2) Select “NAM1″
3) Scroll down to “Alpha Tag” and select that
4) Enter a new tag, then press OK
5) Power down the phone and power it back on again
NOTE: This apparently does not work on all of the newest 6188 models with firmware version 441. On some of these phones, there does not appear to be a way to modify the banner. If I find a way to do this, I will certainly pass it along. Your 441 phone may or may not have Alpha Tag menu item.
Changing the banner in the 6160 and 6120 is a little more complicated. I don’t own either of these phones, so the following instructions are courtesy of Peter Tsang:
1) Type *3001#12345#
This will put your phone into programming mode, and you’ll be presented with the programming menu.
2) Select “NAM1″
3) Select “PSID/RSID”
4) Select “P/RSID 1″
Note: Any of the P/RSIDs will work
5) Select “System Type” and set it to Private
6) Select “PSID/RSID” and set it to 1
7) Select “Connected System ID”
Note: Enter your System ID for Rogers, which is 16401 or 16423. If you don’t know yours, ask your local dealer for it.
Select “Alpha Tag”
9) Enter a new tag, then press OK
10) Select “Operator Code (SO)” and set it to 2050
11) Select “Country Code” and set it to 302 for Canada. Sorry I don’t know the code for the US.
12) Power down the phone and power it back on again
I don’t know how much of that actually has to be done to change the tag, but unless I hear otherwise, I will assume that you must do each and every item as outlined.
Storing and Retrieving Phone Book Entries Numerically
Applies to: 6190
Some people just can’t seem to get to used to the idea that Nokia phones allow only alphabetic access to the entries in the phone book. These people prefer to store all their phone book entries into a known location, and then to speed dial from that location. The following procedure outlines how you can set up your 6190 phone to work in just that manner.
The first thing you need to know is that the 6190 phone does allow you to randomly access the entries in the phone book. Just enter the location you want and then press the # key. So far so good, but how do you store entries into the locations you want? It may seem impossible, since the phone decides where new entries go. A little lateral thinking however, goes a long way here.
Step 1: Clear all your phone book entries. I know, this is a pain if you already have lots of them entered. However, this is a once-only thing, so you’ll never have to perform this step again.
Step 2: Fill the phone with bogus entries, but name them strategically so they tell you where they are stored. I strongly recommend “zz” followed the location. The use of “zz” ensures that the bogus entries appear at the end of your alphabetically sorted names, but ahead of any of your special names beginning with non-alpha characters. You know which location the phone will store the entry, since it puts all new entries into memory from the first location on up. Start with zz1, then zz2, and so on to zz100.
Step 3: Edit the bogus entry at the location you want to use. For example, say you wanted to store Environment Canada’s weather recording number at location 93 (”W”, “E”). Find the bogus entry called zz93, then edit the name and number appropriately. When you are finished, choose the “Save” option (not the “Save New” option). To dial this phone book entry, press 9, 3, #, TALK.
Repeat step 3 any time you have a new entry to put in your phone book. To delete an entry, just e
