Incomprehensible network management

Of course, getting the same price for voice and data in Denmark (see previous post) as in Sweden requires that I chose 3 Denmark as network operator. But, selecting the network is complicated on the A1000. Another instance where the Symbian system sucks.

First of all, the selection is not made in the Control panel/Connections (as I think would be more intutive). Instead it is done under Settings in the Phone application. There are three tabs there (Basic, Avail., Pref., and Known). Beats me what those mean, and on my phone the Pref. tab is dimmed.

Second, since I could not select the preferred network I had to try out other alternatives. On the Basic tab there is a button called "Find new network". To be honest, by now (a week after I came back from Denmark) I can not remember how I actually selected 3 as the network provider.

Third, to conserve battery I often turned the A1000 off. In addition to the occasional unvolontary reboots and moving between base stations, this implied that the phone had to make frequent network reqistrations. Symbian programmers knows if the A1000 first tries the last used network provider, or if it selects any available by random. In any case, I felt it necessary to check which network was registered whenever I made a call, surfed the Net or sent an e-mail.

Fourth (I have thought of bringing this up much earlier), the Network information popup screen is imposible to understand. What does "Video coverage area" mean? What is "Service provider" and how does it differ from "Operator". If explained, that information still has to be related to roaming stuff. For example, If "Service provider" is "3 DK" and "Operator" is "Telia Denmark" (or the other way around, can't remember what was displayed at location) does that mean I have to pay 3 or Telia prices?

Fifth (I have checked the manual), the color on the Network indicator (next to the signal strength) is confusing. I thought I would get green when I used 3 in Denmark. But, probably because I am a 3 Sweden customer I was connected to 3 Denmark which is a roaming partner and the indicator was amber (or rather orange, but that's a forbidden word I guess :-). Do you get it? I don't...

Another thing, that is not related to the operating system, is that 3 seemed to have two operator names (3 and 3DK). Quite confusing.