Database Users

Mobile Data, not as easy as you'd think.

This is an interesting subject to me as the company I work for is acutally in the business of providing a service just as being discussed.
I'm not going to turn this into an advert, but let me give you a quick overview of our service. We run a fully mananged network which connects to a customers office network and to the 4 major MNO's in the UK (plus a few outside the UK, and were expanding). We have at least two private AP's on each MNO plus terminals can connect via a VPN over the internet. We support a number of terminals (mainly from HTC from the Wallaby to the Prophet, but also some from Panasonic, Symbol and Intermec) that connect VIA GPRS but also through GSM DUN as a fallback.
I've worked on the terminal side for about 7 years, I've been involved in development of most areas of the code at one time or another, but for a long time I was responsible for the module that is responsible for connecting to and maintaining the connection to either the MNO network (our AP's or the Public AP) or our own network (via GSM).
The one thing I've learned while doing this is that you can't rely on the MNO for anything. We've had MNO's disconnect us from AP's without warning, we've had IP connections stop passing data again without warning, we've had AP's reject a connection when out auth server told the AP to accept it.
This being true, if your claiming your software is reliable and expecting someone to bet their business on using it, you'd better make sure that it can handle all these issue. Theres nothing worse than trying to explain to a customer why his message didn't go through when both the back-end office and mobile device claim their connected.
And one last thing, and its a big one, Cost. Its easy to make a system that costs so much to run that its economically unviable. Remember every GPRS byte or GSM second costs money, so polling for messages every few seconds may not be a great idea.

Hurm....
This was supposed to be a reply to this thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=43426
I have no idea how it got into its own thread...
Appologies.

That is exactly my point of veiw. Why have to be constantly connected? Its a dirty solution. The only ones who benifit from a middle man are the service providers. Thats why I have put all my effort into using what is reliable. A normal phone call.
I have spent the last 9 months creating something that can reliably transfer data over calls. When I say reliable I mean when data is sent the user will get a confirmation for each packet sent an can be 100% certain it arrived intact when with the confirmation.
Depending on the phone plan it can be cheaper than other means of communication like gprs and mms on phones. When there is no flag fall I can transfer the same data as an mms (on my account anyway) for about half the cost. In free times transmition can be free. What makes the technology usefull is the price. In Australia all forms of data transfer are VERY high, but that is not the case in other countries.

You miss my point somewhat. I don't know about Australia but here in the UK your not actually charged for having a GPRS connection up and running just for the data you transfer over it and so our GPRS connections are up all the time assuming you have coverage. Its how you manage the connection (detecting the IP layer stopping working for example) and the data that flows over it thats important.
When it comes to GSM though your right, there is no way you want to have a permanent connection up, it has to be on-demand based. That in itself leads to problems, the main being that you have to handle charging your customer for the data calls you make to the terminal. Or if you don't connect to the terminal, and it only connects to you, how does the terminal know when messages are waiting.
For us, GSM us a last-ditch solution when GPRS isn't available. However in the UK we've generally found that if you can make a GSM call you can connect to GPRS, and if GPRS is down for some reason, the whole cell is generally not available (so GSM doesn't work either). There are occasions where a hardware failure on a MNO (not at the cell but in the rest of the network) may cause GPRS to stop working but allow GSM to work but situations like that are rare and generally quickly rectified by the MNO.

How GPRS works.

I have recently been told the following about the way carriers figure out GPRS charges. This is something they were apparently told by someone at O2 UK, but I thought I would check whether it is or is not BS....
Since GPRS is an always on service the network doesn't monitor when you use it. THE PHONE DOES. The phone/sim card records information on data transferred and then once in a while uploads that information to the O2 network this is why your GPRS charges may appear on your bill way after you actually used it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Now this raises two issues in my mind.
1) If your phone does the calculations and your phone is hackable, why do people not get free data?
2) This doesn't agree with what I know about networks and how to use them. Surely my phone goes onto a carriers network and gets a private IP, will navigate through a NAT to pick up my email or browse the web and network management tools on the carriers network wil monitor what traffic I cause and this will be polled at the end of the day, thereby accounting for the delay.
Which leads me to a final question - if I am right and the quote is incorrect, how are IPs allocated? Are they static to accounts? (They are private so the carriers could have 256^3 entries) Or are they dynamic? (Because they are lazy and would rather try to update tables as old dial-up ISPs used to do).
Any feedback and/or corrections greatly appreciated.

I can't say one way or another with certainty, but my logic agrees with your conclusions. Like you said, someone would have hacked it by now.
Aside from that, I have a couple different phones that I frequently switch my SIM between. What if I use a bunch of data on phone A, then swap my SIM over to phone B, and leave phone A off for weeks or months? Or for that matter, what if I am using one phone with two different SIMs? Say I use a bunch of data on SIM A which has a data plan, then swap in SIM B with no data plan, and then the phone decides to report my day's usage to the network?
I have to think that the phone company tracks data usage my IP. When you request data, the network must have to identify your SIM as being attached to an account with a data plan. Even if they assign a different IP for each session, that IP would still be tied to your SIM. I have to think that they meter your data by your IP address.
If anyone knows for sure (or can poke holes in my logic) I'd love to hear it.

i believe this is the old case of not always being the best and brigtest who are in customer contact support
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Packet_Radio_Service
there are countless cases of support and sales people speaking out their rear end
it would be crazy to put the phone itself in charge of keeping track of what was downloaded
when it's not the case of normal phone calls or sms's or mms's (which also use gprs)
or old analog modems for pc's which is the closest thing one can compare gprs with
could also be something he said to get people to buy grps monitoring software rather then bothering him about their usage or asking for them to supply a service for users to see
and maybe even limit their usage and cost the company a bit of overusage income

Epic blocking data access to specific ports

Hello all, just trying to make others aware of the same issues I am having (and also to verify that I'm not simply doing something wrong, wrongfully blaming Samsung/Sprint)
I've been having issues with Skyfire playing Video over 4G/3G so I figured, ok, its a new phone, older app, I'm sure they'll update/fix it soon.
But Now I tried using Cherry Rplayer app via both 3g and 4g again and again, it won't work over either 3g or 4g, but works fine over wifi.
What gives? Are their restricted ports written into the network config of the phone over those 2 network adapters? Sprint gouges me into a more expensive plan AND charges me $10 a month extra for "Premium" data, but still continue to block major applications that people want to use?
Can anyone else shed some light on the source and/or solution to this issue?

Sprint does not block ports or any apps from working, might be issues with your phone or the programs you are trying to use. I have Skyfire on my Epic and it works flawless, there was a new updated version that just came out on the 1st of September, but even though it was working fine for me before the update. All my "internet/data" apps all work for me. Oh, what "network adapters" are you reffering to? Not to forget, the $10 premium data charge is for the amount of data your new 3g/4g phone uses, if you are in a 4g coverage area (new areas being added constantly), you really benefit from this as there is no data cap on 4g for the premium you are paying. I'm very sure the sales rep told you all this when you were getting the phone.

I have found that some radio apps don't behave right when 4g is enabled like streamfurious and i hedartradio, some other apps don't always behave right either
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

OniKyanAE86 said:
Sprint does not block ports or any apps from working, might be issues with your phone or the programs you are trying to use. I have Skyfire on my Epic and it works flawless, there was a new updated version that just came out on the 1st of September, but even though it was working fine for me before the update. All my "internet/data" apps all work for me. Oh, what "network adapters" are you reffering to? Not to forget, the $10 premium data charge is for the amount of data your new 3g/4g phone uses, if you are in a 4g coverage area (new areas being added constantly), you really benefit from this as there is no data cap on 4g for the premium you are paying. I'm very sure the sales rep told you all this when you were getting the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wasn't trying to be argumentative on the issue, I am in fact in a 4G area and I'm well aware of the benefits and costs (especially coming from an old grandfathered plan) associated (although given the choice, I would have chose against it simply because I don't need to exceed the typical 1-2MBPs I get on 3G), and a cap is not an issue with 3G either. It comes down to speed alone, but I digress, I've made peace with it.
The "network adapters" I'm referring to is in reference to how they're referred to in Linux/Android. My hypothesis is that if sprint is not in fact blocking it on their network (and I don't believe they are, simply because I have the same issue on both 3G and 4G, where 4G is operated by clear and would be a different company that would have to block both services). I DO believe they have modified the phone's networking config in the phone itself in such a way to prevent those ports from being used on those 2 "interfaces" (the 4G radio and the 3G radio, each acting as an interface). The phone itself must have 4 such "interfaces" represented, one for each radio (3g, 4g, wifi, + bt) (plus any additional vpns). They will generally have either one config file per interface, or one config file with 4 sections to it dictating how it will be used (including ip address configs, interface parameters like wpa passwords, etc), as well as more network config files concerning network traffic permissions (where they would restrict port access) which can be specific to any/all interfaces. This is exactly the same as setting up a firewall in linux (blocking ports on your internet interface, but not your home lan interface), except it is blocking applications we WANT to work.
Also, can you please confirm for me that your skyfire works using the "video button" on the bottom left corner on both 3G and 4G? I ask because mine will work fine via wifi but not 3G or 4G. Again, I apologize if my post sounded like a rant, my only intent is to make others aware of a potential problem that needs fixing, or to discover that it is some other problem entirely which may or may not be my fault for doing something stupid or overlooking something.

compuw22c said:
I wasn't trying to be argumentative on the issue, I am in fact in a 4G area and I'm well aware of the benefits and costs (especially coming from an old grandfathered plan) associated (although given the choice, I would have chose against it simply because I don't need to exceed the typical 1-2MBPs I get on 3G), and a cap is not an issue with 3G either. It comes down to speed alone, but I digress, I've made peace with it.
The "network adapters" I'm referring to is in reference to how they're referred to in Linux/Android. My hypothesis is that if sprint is not in fact blocking it on their network (and I don't believe they are, simply because I have the same issue on both 3G and 4G, where 4G is operated by clear and would be a different company that would have to block both services). I DO believe they have modified the phone's networking config in the phone itself in such a way to prevent those ports from being used on those 2 "interfaces" (the 4G radio and the 3G radio, each acting as an interface). The phone itself must have 4 such "interfaces" represented, one for each radio (3g, 4g, wifi, + bt) (plus any additional vpns). They will generally have either one config file per interface, or one config file with 4 sections to it dictating how it will be used (including ip address configs, interface parameters like wpa passwords, etc), as well as more network config files concerning network traffic permissions (where they would restrict port access) which can be specific to any/all interfaces. This is exactly the same as setting up a firewall in linux (blocking ports on your internet interface, but not your home lan interface), except it is blocking applications we WANT to work.
Also, can you please confirm for me that your skyfire works using the "video button" on the bottom left corner on both 3G and 4G? I ask because mine will work fine via wifi but not 3G or 4G. Again, I apologize if my post sounded like a rant, my only intent is to make others aware of a potential problem that needs fixing, or to discover that it is some other problem entirely which may or may not be my fault for doing something stupid or overlooking something.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Following...
(I like Skyfire too).

BBAHunter said:
Following...
(I like Skyfire too).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you tried to see if it is in fact disabled for you as well? I'm trying to confirm that this is a universal issue and isn't say a conflict between 2 applications I've installed together. All info on this well help nailing down the cause. Thanks!

I downloaded and tried this using the video link at the bottom left over my 3G connection, and it works just fine for me. No issue getting anything to load whatsoever.
Sent from my Samsung Epic 4G

Malefickus said:
I downloaded and tried this using the video link at the bottom left over my 3G connection, and it works just fine for me. No issue getting anything to load whatsoever.
Sent from my Samsung Epic 4G
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
*Bangs head against wall*
Oh well, I have to exchange mine for a different reason anyways (to get my 2 year discount instead of 1 year) so we'll see if the new one does it too...

Samsung/Google big brother.

I turn on my Galaxy today and suddenly my sim unlocked phone is simlocked again. WTF?
Samsung/Google put a damn remote control for network providers into Android.
Network providers can change our settings and override our own settings and who knows what else.
On my dumbphone and on my hsdpa modem the network is unable to override my settings like on Android.
If this kind of remote control would be inside Windows, there would be mass protests.
I think this is caused by a software like CarrierIQ
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CarrierIQ

Yes, samsung is remotely changing your APN settings just to see how you will react. They noticed how annoyed you were, so they decided to simlock your phone again, that sure was hilarious, gave them a good laugh, so they tried it again the day after. They keep pictures of angry customers (ofcourse secretly taken with the cam on your phone) on their walls and throw darts at them. Wherever the dart lands, that customer will get a random new APN configured.
You are lucky though, samsung also changes your sms tone to fart sounds when you are not looking. Also, setting your alarm clock to 2 AM is one of their better random pranks, so be sure to check your alarm every night before you go to sleep.

In the sticky thread of this forum:
"[SC-02C] Japan NTT DoCoMo Galaxy S II Users"
I quote what they write:
"Its suspected that turning the built-in tether feature switches you invisibly to a different APN which generates an increase on the bill."

Yeah, so samsung MUST be changing APN settings remotely. I told you they were pranksters

Boeboe said:
Yeah, so samsung MUST be changing APN settings remotely. I told you they were pranksters
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Read this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrier_IQ
Samsung is not a network operator.

I'll see your carrier IQ and raise you Carrier IQ Detector.
Oh, you are not American? Only God knows why you mentioned Carrier IQ then
Still, I thought Carrier IQ could only be used for stat collection, not for remotely changing random settings. Thanks for the info!
Also, yes, I am a complete noob at being a clown. If only I could learn from a clown master

About this software:
Apple, HTC and Samsung said the software was installed on their phones. Apple said it had quit supporting the application in iOS 5. Apple said it would scrub the software from phones in some future release. HTC said, it was required on its devices by a "number of U.S. carriers." Nokia and Research in Motion said it categorically was not authorized for their phones. However, this does not prevent mobile carriers from installing it after the phone is manufactured. According to the company's website the software is also installed on NEC mobile devices, and the company has a partnership with Vodafone Portugal.
On December 1, 2011, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile confirmed it was on their phones.
From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CarrierIQ

I readed wiki article mostly... So is there any cure against this? Some program or removal tool
I know that they collect some data information, but if they starting keylogging, then...

kureke said:
I readed wiki article mostly... So is there any cure against this? Some program or removal tool
I know that they collect some data information, but if they starting keylogging, then...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The network operators can change the settings of the OS.
I quote again from the other thread:
"Its suspected that turning the built-in tether feature switches you invisibly to a different APN which generates an increase on the bill."

Activate wifi network and deactivate mobile network, edit your APN's and see if changes with your wifi network. If it does, you have a problem with the software of your mobile phone. If it doesn't call the ghost-buster!!

v1c70r said:
Activate wifi network and deactivate mobile network, edit your APN's and see if changes with your wifi network. If it does, you have a problem with the software of your mobile phone. If it doesn't call the ghost-buster!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
He wrote "invisibly".
Invisibly means that what you have set in your settings is irrelevant.

He's talking about tethering.
When you tether, you lose wifi connectivity, because your phone needs to act as an AP.

Boeboe said:
He's talking about tethering.
When you tether, you lose wifi connectivity, because your phone needs to act as an AP.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What you wrote is not related to what I am writing about.
I am writing about 3G network settings and network operator control over them.
Wifi and 3G are two different things.
APNs are set for 3G, not Wifi.
He writes that the 3G APN changes.
Nobody is writing about wifi losing connectivity, except you.

How did you notice it changed the first time if it happened "invisibly", but can't see if it happens again on wifi?

legion1911 said:
I turn on my Galaxy today and suddenly my sim unlocked phone is simlocked again. WTF?
And other times I noticed my APN invisibly change.
Samsung/Google put a damn remote control for network operators into android.
They can change our settings and override our own settings and who knows what else.
I thought Android is a free, open OS. We root the device and do all kinds of stuff but Samsung/Google have given control on the OS to the network operators.
If this kind of remote control would be inside Windows, there would be mass protests.
This OS is remote controlled by the network operators.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The reason for the argument is that your 1st post is somewhat misleading, how exactly they changed your apn settings? also why you bring up carrier iq? that software is for logging not remote controlling...

First HTC now Samsung? Really wtf :/
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using xda premium

Bonestack said:
How did you notice it changed the first time if it happened "invisibly", but can't see if it happens again on wifi?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I explain in more detail. There are two APNs on my network provider.
One has a network speed limitation, one does not have it.
I of course use the one without the speed limitation.
ONLY ON MY ANDROID PHONE (on my dumbphone and on my hsdpa modem this never happens), the network operator DISCONNECTs my connection with my APN, and the phone re-connects to hspa+ with the different APN. Invisibly means that the APN in my settings is the same I put, (the one without speed cap).
But I notice I am on the other APN, because I see the network disconnection and I notice the reconnection with speed limitation.
This speed limitation or speed cap is visible on my speed meter (netlimiter program).

Sesshou said:
The reason for the argument is that your 1st post is somewhat misleading, how exactly they changed your apn settings? also why you bring up carrier iq? that software is for logging not remote controlling...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As the other contributor explained:
"Its suspected that turning the built-in tether feature switches you invisibly to a different APN which generates an increase on the bill."
He notices it from the increase in the phone bill.
I notice it from the disconnection of my hspa+ connection and the re-connection with the APN with speed limitation. I can see the speed limitation clearly on my program "netlimiter".
And, this never happens on my dumbphone and on my hsdpa modem, only on Android.
I bring up carrieriq because it is an example of a program the network providers put on android to do stuff without our approval.

envioustitan08 said:
First HTC now Samsung? Really wtf :/
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I quote from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CarrierIQ
"On December 1, 2011, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile confirmed it was on their phones."
"Sprint said, "We collect enough information to understand the customer experience with devices on our network and how to address any connection problems" ... "The information collected is not sold and we don't provide a direct feed of this data to anyone outside of Sprint.""
"Apple, HTC and Samsung said the software was installed on their phones. "
"Apple said it had quit supporting the application in iOS 5. "
"Nokia and Research in Motion said it categorically was not authorized for their phones. However, this does not prevent mobile carriers from installing it after the phone is manufactured."
"According to the company's website the software is also installed on NEC mobile devices, and the company has a partnership with Vodafone Portugal."

Dude carrier IQ aint gonna change sh*t on your phone besides your not even in the US ... If your worried so much install CM 7 which is cq free and check !

Airave hacking. Home cell network? VoIP? Possible?

I have a really off the wall question here. Since the airave is basically a short range cellular antennae I assume that it would be possible to program what it broadcasts. Would it be possible to modify the airave so that it connects to and broadcasts normal cable or dsl internet so that it can be accessed by the phones connected to it, and would it also be possible to program it to use either the landline or voip service, preferably google voice. Then couldn't we write a custom PRL to only connect to our airave, and have the airave set to a unique tower ID so it wont conflict with official towers?

xplus93 said:
I have a really off the wall question here. Since the airave is basically a short range cellular antennae I assume that it would be possible to program what it broadcasts. Would it be possible to modify the airave so that it connects to and broadcasts normal cable or dsl internet so that it can be accessed by the phones connected to it, and would it also be possible to program it to use either the landline or voip service, preferably google voice. Then couldn't we write a custom PRL to only connect to our airave, and have the airave set to a unique tower ID so it wont conflict with official towers?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe the company that made Magic Jack tried to do this, and got lawsuits off the ying yang by Phone companies. So it definitely is possible. How difficult it is going to be to do this is beyond my level of intellect.

I thought I had responded to this but it is going to be hard. Very very hard. First and foremost those devices are built for one thing changing that functionality is going to be hard. I'm sure it already has a unique tower id, the problem is changing the routing. It is probably hard coded in how to route calls, changing that is going to be difficult, and I be the protocol is proprietary and encrypted.
The next thing is the legal aspect, the frequencies they operate on are private, as in we can't use them.

xplus93 said:
I have a really off the wall question here. Since the airave is basically a short range cellular antennae I assume that it would be possible to program what it broadcasts. Would it be possible to modify the airave so that it connects to and broadcasts normal cable or dsl internet so that it can be accessed by the phones connected to it, and would it also be possible to program it to use either the landline or voip service, preferably google voice. Then couldn't we write a custom PRL to only connect to our airave, and have the airave set to a unique tower ID so it wont conflict with official towers?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I work for the Corporate Technical Support Team for these devices. Basically there is not much you can do with it. There are some neat features inside of the device which you can mess with extending the range, and Allowing more users than normally allowed. But the device, built by Ericsson is made specifically to connect to one Sprint tower within 15 miles of your home location, once authorized it outputs an EVDO signal for your phone. Everything else is done by your internet. Flashing a PRL won't do anything but brick it, since Verizon does not carry this product, and the GSM Giants have a different version of it that will not authenticate. So creating a personal network is not really a viable option.
Just like a vonage box or any other VoIP device, it has to authenticate somehow. The only thing I see even remotely possible is that you can [maybe] alter the devices firmware to allow multiple authentication channels. Even still the data would be reported to Airvana, Sprint, and Ericsson and it would probably term your service. Same thing when people flash phones over to the Verizon PRL. It gets noticed quickly, and Sprint will proactively cancel your account if there is anything fishy.
My only recommendation to you is that you buy one outright, not connected to any account, and then begin the modding experiements.
I am to assume you have the Airvana AP, or do you have the Samsung Airave?

voip with mobile phone is blocked by our profiders in the netherlands >.<

Voip
I setup voip on my LG Vortex vs660, all you need is groove ip and google voice and one legit# just get a walmart prepay phone register with that number then get ur phone# from google and don't port anthing. Add voice to ur regular phone and then on the google voice site have your calls forwarded to your gmail address and that will be attached to your regular phone. You can then use whatever network ur on to take in/out calls on the data network. All you need is wifi to make and takes calls, why the attn? I have an inactive non activated phone and I'm on mediacom's network with topped out 1ghz upstream which is plenty for decent quality calls. More up is better but work wit what u have. If you need help or need info on setup in detail let me know I wrote an 18 page paper on the subject, just an indepth view that will explain everything and whqt settings to use. Get ahold of me if you need it.
xplus93 said:
I have a really off the wall question here. Since the airave is basically a short range cellular antennae I assume that it would be possible to program what it broadcasts. Would it be possible to modify the airave so that it connects to and broadcasts normal cable or dsl internet so that it can be accessed by the phones connected to it, and would it also be possible to program it to use either the landline or voip service, preferably google voice. Then couldn't we write a custom PRL to only connect to our airave, and have the airave set to a unique tower ID so it wont conflict with official towers?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

The custom prl would be on the phone. Basically i want to use it and my old sprint phone as a super fancy high tech cordless phone system for my house. Apparently as i thought its locked down tight.

[email protected] said:
I work for the Corporate Technical Support Team for these devices. Basically there is not much you can do with it. There are some neat features inside of the device which you can mess with extending the range, and Allowing more users than normally allowed. But the device, built by Ericsson is made specifically to connect to one Sprint tower within 15 miles of your home location, once authorized it outputs an EVDO signal for your phone. Everything else is done by your internet. Flashing a PRL won't do anything but brick it, since Verizon does not carry this product, and the GSM Giants have a different version of it that will not authenticate. So creating a personal network is not really a viable option.
Just like a vonage box or any other VoIP device, it has to authenticate somehow. The only thing I see even remotely possible is that you can [maybe] alter the devices firmware to allow multiple authentication channels. Even still the data would be reported to Airvana, Sprint, and Ericsson and it would probably term your service. Same thing when people flash phones over to the Verizon PRL. It gets noticed quickly, and Sprint will proactively cancel your account if there is anything fishy.
My only recommendation to you is that you buy one outright, not connected to any account, and then begin the modding experiements.
I am to assume you have the Airvana AP, or do you have the Samsung Airave?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is exactly what I am looking for. Any links?

Using Net10 with Sprint Air Rave
I used to have an account with Sprint also using an air rave. Worked fine till I switched over to Net10 with my same Sprint phones. I am still on the Sprint network but getting billed from Net10 at 45% less per month still using the Sprint network. So how can I use the Air Rave now? Or do I have to have an active open account with Sprint to use it?

I stay in India .. Can you help me to setup everything and does it costs money... I am in 8th class... I don't have much money
Sent from my Micromax AQ4501 using XDA Free mobile app