Jun
19
Written by: Mike Temporale
Thursday, June 19, 2008 8:28pm
One of the great appeals of a GSM device is the ability to swap SIM cards and as a result, networks. As an example, I have a Samsung BlackJack II from AT&T running on Fido’s network. When I travel to the US, I just pull out my Fido SIM and put in my AT&T SIM and I’m off and running without those nasty roaming charges. The only problem is when it comes to data - I don’t want to have to enter those settings every time I travel. Typically, I would leave all the network settings in the phone and just edit the Connects To setting for the networks. I would set the network I don’t want to use to connect to Work and the network I want to use to Internet. It works, but it can get to be a pain trying to edit all those entries and with the new network settings lock, it can be near impossible (especially if you don’t want to hack your phone). Thankfully, there is a handy little utility in Windows Mobile that lets you flag a given network as the default making it very easy to switch between networks. It’s not a new feature, it’s in both Windows Mobile 6.1 and 6. It may also be in 5, but I don’t have a device handy to check that on.
To change the default data settings to match the network you’re currently roaming on, simply hit Start / Settings / Connections, then press the right Menu key and select Advanced. You should now see a screen like the one in the one above. Select the settings that match your current carrier and your done. 
Windows Mobile 6 introduced this concept of data roaming when it comes to email. Basically it warns you that you are about to send/receive email and since you are roaming, it may cost you more for that data. Why they didn’t connect this alert to your carriers settings I will never understand. Anyway, the alert is a handy feature when you are actually roaming. For whatever reason, my phone thinks I’m roaming all the time. I know I’m not and my monthly bill reflects that. As such, I find this warning very very annoying. Thankfully Microsoft thought of this and has provided an option that allows you to turn this warning off. The problem I’m having is that I can’t turn this warning off unless I set the account to automatically send/receive email on a given schedule. If the account is set to manual, then I’m stuck with this warning message. :-S
Great feature Microsoft, but to really make this work, take it out of Outlook Mobile and put it into the carrier settings. That way I have one spot to go and disable the warning instead of changing the setting for each of my email accounts. It also allows you to have a different setting for different connections. Perhaps I have a second account that’s cheaper on roaming data, so I don’t want to see the warning when I’m on that network, but I do if I’m on the other network. That seems to make the most sense to me.
