How-To get an unlocked Samsung Galaxy S to work with Fido

I got my wife an unlocked Samsung Galaxy S (the "Captivate" variety) and had a few challenges getting it set up.

Configuring the Fido APN

There are at least two ways to configure the Fido APN although you find even more configurations if you search online. I ended up getting the Fido APN settings from Rogers directly. The instructions were for the Nexus One, but it doesn't matter to Rogers/Fido what device you are using, all Smartphones look alike to the carrier as far as I can tell.

Here they are as they appear on my phone:

Fido Access Point Settings (Settings->Wireless and network->Mobile networks->Access Point Names)

  • Name: fido
  • APN: fido-core-appl1.apn
  • Proxy: <Not Set>
  • Port: <Not Set>
  • Username: <Not Set>
  • Password: <Not Set>
  • Server: <Not Set>
  • MMSC: http://mms.fido.ca
  • MMS Proxy: 205.151.11.13
  • MMS Port: 80
  • MCC: 302 (retrieved from SIM)
  • MNC: 370 (retrieved from SIM)
  • Authentication type: <Not Set>
  • APN type: internet + mms

The tricky part was that I had to enable "Data roaming" (under Settings->Wireless and network->Mobile networks->Data roaming) for this to work (finally found this out thanks to this thread about Fido network issues. The reason is that Fido phones are actually roaming on the Rogers network (or maybe it's what used to be Fido's network before they were acquired). It's roaming for free, but it's still technically-speaking roaming so without enabling this option the APN settings above won't work. There are other configurations online that use the fido.internet.ca APN, however, the fido-core-appl1.apn one is what you should use if you have/ a smartphone as supposedly it is faster.

You can confirm if you device is roaming by going to "Settings->About phone->Status->Roaming".

Incoming text messages timestamp bug

Incoming texts will appear to have been sent four hours ago (if you and the sender are in Pacific Standard Time). This has something to do with Android applying a timezone adjustment again, even though the message has already been adjusted by the provider before it arrives at the phone. Thanks to this thread about this timestamp bug, I was able to fix the problem by setting the Date/Time to "manual" rather than "automatic", changing my timezone to GMT-3 (Greenland) and then changing the time to be what the actual local time was. This works because GMT-3 is 4 hours ahead of PST-7 which cancels out the 4 hours that Android is subtracing from every message that comes in. The problem with this is that if you sync with Google Calendar, all the event times will be screwed up. I have since set the time back to "automatic" and I am hoping that the Froyo 2.2 update fixes this problem.

Update (2010/12/28): Thanks to this thread about SMS time differences I was able to find this app called SMS Time Fix. It works perfectly.

Updating to ECLAIR.UCJH7 (AKA JH7)

After updating the firmware to JH7 (a minor update to Android 2.1) with Kies, I could no longer connect to Kies. I tried everything imaginable, but the only thing that worked was to factory reset the device.

Constant reboots

I installed an app called Quick Profiles which caused the device to do what I would describe as a "soft reboot" (the screen goes black for a few seconds, and it returns to the locked-out screen, but all the services restart, like the wallpaper and the media scanner, so it's as if the desktop and all of its applications crashed. The only way I was able to fix this was by doing a factory reset. In the future we will back up all the settings and apps before installing a new app, then we can do a factory reset and then restore if anything goes wrong.

Update (2010/12/28): Installed MyBackup Pro and scheduled nightly backups to the SD card and online. Seems to be working like a charm so far, although I haven't actually tested the backups by doing a restore.

Comments

Thanks! worked like a charm ;)

Awesome post, I just wanted to confirm that no charges are to be incurred from turning on data roaming in this method, am I correct? Which would mean anytime you would get close to the US border you have to turn off the data roaming option, in case the phone picks up a wireless carrier from the US and starts roaming; however, you would loose the 3G on Fido at the same time? Is there any way to avoid this?

Thanks.

You will have to manually turn off data roaming whenever you go to the US and manually turn it on again when you come back to your home town. I'm sure there is an add-on out there to make it easier, based on actual GPS location or something.

That kind of sucks but I guess its worth the inconvenience; since, the phones Fido carries suck. I've been looking through android marketplace and all the programs I've seen so far just notify you when your phone starts to roam, which I guess is good enough for the time being.

Thanks! fixed everything i was worried about all at once. love my android!

I'm on 2.1 and the MMS APN configuration you wrote doesn t work 4 me ! dunno why !

Did you try to save each time you enter something? (save: Top right )

Thanks a lot David! After trying all kinds of different combinations this one is a bull's eye. About the roaming it's not a big deal at all unless you go to another country. Otherwise it's gonna stay on rogers network, it's not gonna jump on bell or telus network.

Worked for me! Thanks!

I'd seen the settings elsewhere and also mention of enabling roaming but you're the first to put the two together for me. :)

Nadine

I'm on 3G now - your instructions were beautifully clear.

Thanks!

Glenn

Worked for me! Thanks! very very Much!!

I have a Telus Galaxy S Fascinate that is unlocked and is being used on Fido. The settings you provided worked for me.
Fido gave me APN settings that didnt work. I also tried APN settings from elsewhere on the web and they didnt work either.
And yes, I must have roaming turned on for it to work. When my phone connects it says Rogers network for a brief moment before it says Fido. I will have to be vigilant being close to USA border!
Kudos!

Thanks you for a fantastic post!!!!
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!

I was about to tear my hair out trying to get data on my Samsung Galaxy. Couldn't understand why it wasn't working and felt SO stupid. The data roaming trick worked! Phew!

Thank you.
The roaming think was the glitch.

I have these settings on an unlocked phone using Fido's network as well, but when I turn off roaming while in the States to avoid charges, my phone stops working completely. I can understand that I won't be able to check my emails or go on the internet but additionally, I can't make/receive calls or SMS. Is there a fix for this?

Thank you so much for your detailed instructions. Great Job!!

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