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Signal at work = great
Signal on the road = great
Signal at home = crap, crap, crap (Verizon Droid gives me full bars here).
So there is a Sprint Airave device. http://shop.sprint.com/en/services/airave/index.shtml
I really really like this phone but its gotta work for me at home. I got wifi at the house so im not as worried about getting a 3g or 4g signal here.
Is the phone worthy of the airave and additional expense? Anyone using an airave now?
Kllian said:
Signal at work = great
Signal on the road = great
Signal at home = crap, crap, crap (Verizon Droid gives me full bars here).
So there is a Sprint Airave device. http://shop.sprint.com/en/services/airave/index.shtml
I really really like this phone but its gotta work for me at home. I got wifi at the house so im not as worried about getting a 3g or 4g signal here.
Is the phone worthy of the airave and additional expense? Anyone using an airave now?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you contact Sprint and inform them about your lack of signal in your house, they will most likely offer you an airave for free. From what I hear, it really works well.
You're in the exact same situation I was in a few days ago. This is what you do:
1. Call their customer service at 888-211-4727
2. Act very clueless, telling them that you're getting absolutely no coverage inside your house.
3. They'll check the coverage in your area, and eventually, they'll mention the Airave as an alternative.
4. Again, acting clueless, ask them how much it costs. This is where it pays to be nice to the representative. Depending on the individual, they'll do one three things.
a. Charge you for the airave and the service. In this case, say nevermind and hang up, then call again.
b. Offer to either waive the device cost itself or the monthly cost of the service, not both. I got this far and settled with it. They didn't charge for the device, but my parents will be paying the monthly fee.
c. Offer both the Airave and the service for free. Good luck getting to this point, it'll take some really good luck and acting.
The device itself kicks ass. It essentially uses your internet connection to turn the device into a small cell phone tower. I get full bars everywhere inside of my house. The only downside is that the data is at 1X speeds, but it makes absolutely no difference since you probably have a Wi-Fi connection in your house anyway. If you get the Airave, make sure your router is located somewhere near an open window. The package includes a cable that allows the GPS unit, which is required to get a strong network connection, to be placed as close to a window as possible.
http://mobile.engadget.com/2010/08/19/sprints-3g-capable-airave-from-airvana-starts-shipping/
It probably won't be really available for a while (more than 30 days - although apparently a few people have been able to get their hands on one already), but it looks like this thing is coming out sooner, rather than later.
I have one. Got it about a week ago. I havent even taken it out of the box. Guess if it supports 3G, I should.
One thing I do like is you dont need a switch to use it anymore. It has a pass-through ethernet configuration.
Im unboxing it now.. this thing is freakin huge.. WAAAAY bigger than the original AirRave I had.
MadFlava said:
Im unboxing it now.. this thing is freakin huge.. WAAAAY bigger than the original AirRave I had.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
think you'll be able to post some speed-test results? How'd you get yours? Thought they weren't really out yet.
I still don't understand why having 3G is important at all for an Airave. The airave works using a broadband connection, so if you have broadband, the chances of you having wifi are pretty high also, and if you have wifi, who cares about 3G? Does my logic hold ground?
Sure.. Ill run speedtests.
I didnt do anything special to get it. I used to be with Sprint and I left and went to TMobile. Well, I returned my original AirRave because they asked for it back. When I came back to Sprint, I asked them to return the AirRave to me so I could hook it back up and they said they would send me a new one.
I noticed it looked different but didnt really think anything about it.
Here's a couple of things that arent mentioned in the article above.
This thing is HUGE.. I already said that but I wanted to say it again.
Its set up so you plug the cable modem directly into it and then there are extra jacks for hooking up a PC or a router.
Mine is going through the sync process now. It doesnt seem to be any faster than the old AirRaves but I may end up having to DMZ it in my router like I did the last one.
tgruendler said:
I still don't understand why having 3G is important at all for an Airave. The airave works using a broadband connection, so if you have broadband, the chances of you having wifi are pretty high also, and if you have wifi, who cares about 3G? Does my logic hold ground?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes - as far is the EVO goes. But there are a ton of Sprint devices that can use 3g data but don't get wifi.
I've had mine for almost 2 weeks now, its really great, I get five bars at home and the 3g seems capped at about 2mbps. It us pretty big, but I don't mind, although I think that the samsung airrave looks a little cooler.us kind of weird when using 3g because your not using sprints network so its almost like wifi, just slower. My only complaint is that the thing takes 20 minutes to start up and it has a really weak built in gps signal, you have to use the antenna to make it work. I got mine for free from sprint because I get 0-1 bars and was "threatening to cancel" (lies to get a free airrave with no monthly fees)
I'd say its pretty awesome
You should have posted this thread in the accessories section noob
Sent from my blah blah blah blah
So what do those of us with the Samsung Airaves have to do in order to get one of these new 3G capable ones?
Mecha2142 said:
So what do those of us with the Samsung Airaves have to do in order to get one of these new 3G capable ones?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sell it on ebay them buy the new one with the money you get
I can't see that this is anything of a big deal unless your phone doesn't have Wifi capabilities
I just sent Sprint an email about getting my old Airave upgraded to the new one. Hopefully they hook me up since I've been a customer for 7 years and have no service in the middle of Atlanta.
tgruendler said:
I still don't understand why having 3G is important at all for an Airave. The airave works using a broadband connection, so if you have broadband, the chances of you having wifi are pretty high also, and if you have wifi, who cares about 3G? Does my logic hold ground?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Every person in my family has an evo except my mom who has a palm pixi. Which had no wifi.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
Got one on the way with a return kit for my old airave. I called customer care and asked if they were upgrading old airaves. After a few minutes on hold i was given the details regarding the new airave and the return kit. One bummer was that the rep told me that the 3g is not evdo, but first gen 3g.
Other than that I am expecting delivery next Thursday.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
is the signal given off of the new airave any better/go any further???
In my tests so far with the airave 2.0 they signal seems to be a little stronger than before...
Does it actually hand off calls to the network like its supposed to?
My Airave does not hand off calls even though when I go outside the condo, I get a full 5 bars of Sprint signal. It has yet to hand off a call though I have been impressed by the distance I can go before it drops...
EtherealRemnant said:
Does it actually hand off calls to the network like its supposed to?
My Airave does not hand off calls even though when I go outside the condo, I get a full 5 bars of Sprint signal. It has yet to hand off a call though I have been impressed by the distance I can go before it drops...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What do you mean hand off calls to the network? Its not a cell repeater, I have one of those to, that will hand off calls to the network, but the airrave is a femtocell, which takes your broadband internet connection a sprint tower, it never even uses sprints towers. If you need a cell repeater I'm selling mine
I am just wondering what the fine people here at xda think about sprint. I am thinking about switching from tmobile and would like to know stuff like how good is the coverage, is 4g at all fast? What about Customer Service? Any info would greatly be appreciated
I'm in the LA area. The coverage is really not bad at all, and outside of urban LA in the rural/desert parts of SoCal it can be surprisingly good.
4g is faster than 3g, but the coverage is very very spotty and in-building penetration is lousy. I'd say it's on the cusp between usable and unusable, frankly.
Customer service is a lot better than it used to be.
Sent from my PG06100 using XDA App
I'm in southeast Missouri, but I work on the inland waterways: Arkansas, Ohio, Mississippi Rivers. All I can say is on the river I've got service in three times the places I did with ATT.
When I do get wimax, its building penetration is indeed terrible. Customer support is the absolute best.
Sent from my MikShift.
Yeah, cust svc is really good so far. I've only been with Sprint for a little more than a month and called them three times, but they've been great. I'm in the Chicagoland area (on the border of Chicago) and service has been great. I definately agree with 4G being hard to get indoors but I don't need it enough to even want to use it. Plus I have wifi everywhere at my usual locations. My texts usually go through right away and I don't get calls not going through, unlike I did with T-Mobile.
The only problem I have is how damn slow the 3g is around here.
EVO Shift and XDA app
I live in the Washington DC area and I have great coverage for 3g. I usually can get a 4g signal outside but, like others, I have noticed that 4g doesn't penetrate buildings well. I like customer service for the most part.
Yeah im in the charlotte area so i have 4g and its pretty quick but the 3g speeds in this area arent that great. There are a ton of people with sprint in this area bc its cheaper than verizon and att blows, not sure if an area can be over saturated with so many people pulling from sprints data service but i wouldnt be surprised.
Sent from my PG06100 using XDA App
It's nice to hear that customer service is good because all I have been reading is that sprint has terrible customer service. As far as 4g, My tmobile G2 hardly gets 4g inside my house but that is why I use wifi. How is call quality in buildings?
Sprint's customer service has improved dramatically in the last year. They went from last to 1st or 2nd.
We just found out someone stole our phone information and started making calls out of the country. Sprint has been really good so far in handling this. I have to call them again tomorrow regarding our bill. I will report back to see how easy they take the charges off.
sorry to hear that buddy. Hope everything works out well
I have had sprint for a year and a half and so far no complaints.
Service is reliable virtually everywhere i have been (there are a few spotty areas but you find that with any carrier)
Customer service has been great, luckily i have only had to call once or twice and it's never been because of something major.
my only complaint is their 3G has not been the fastest thing in the world. it's functional and reliable, just not crazy fast.
On a good day at work i can hit between 800kb/s and 1mb/s and it's fairly consistent, when i go to Boston or even near by cities it's about the same and this is across 4 devices (blackberry tour, palm pre, HTC Evo, Evo Shift) on my CR-48 netbook with a verizon data card i average 2mb/s and on good days i get almost 3mb/s
on the flip side, data is reliable, i've never had an issue connecting to the data network.
At the end of the day, i'm a happy customer phone calls work, texts work, data works and i haven't had any issues with service, billing, etc.
I'm in the Seattle area. 3G coverage is great, 4G is spotty as others have said, but fast where you can get it.
I sometimes drop to 1 bar of 3G in my house, but it never drops. I average about 500kbps up and down at home. I've gotten pretty consistently 800k-1Mbps down, 500-700k up around my area.
Although Sprint's 4G map says I should have "in building" 4G coverage both at work and at home I get nothing in my house or my office. Step outside and I get a bar or two and maybe 3Mbps down, 500k up. In better coverage areas I've gotten 8Mbps down, and over 1Mbps up. What I'm getting at is 4G seems to be a lot more spotty than their coverage map indicates, but I understand it will likely expand and it doesn't bother me too much.
I made the switch from T-Mo to Sprint and there is no way I'm going back. Sprint's customer service is the best that I've ever experienced and totally pwns T-Mo's. The 3G speeds are average but consistent. The 4G speeds are fairly fast if you're in the right area; it won't work worth a dam in most buildings however.
Sent from my PG06100 using XDA Premium App
What's weird is I had Clear internet service for a week or so to try it out and I got great signal and pretty solid 6-8Mbps download speeds -- no hiccups whatsoever. I ended up opting for Fios because... well come on, do I have to explain. Anyway, I was under the impression that Clearwire and Sprint shared Wimax towers. Look at their coverage maps and they're almost identical. Maybe the Wimax radios in the phones are somehow less sensitive than the Clear modems?
goletaal said:
What's weird is I had Clear internet service for a week or so to try it out and I got great signal and pretty solid 6-8Mbps download speeds -- no hiccups whatsoever. I ended up opting for Fios because... well come on, do I have to explain. Anyway, I was under the impression that Clearwire and Sprint shared Wimax towers. Look at their coverage maps and they're almost identical. Maybe the Wimax radios in the phones are somehow less sensitive than the Clear modems?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can adjust your wimax to be more "sensitive"
Sent from my PG06100 using XDA App
JKILO said:
You can adjust your wimax to be more "sensitive"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not sure sensitive is the word...the adjustment will make it accept and cling to a weaker signal than it would otherwise, but it doesn't actually increase the radio's sensitivity in such a way as to make the signal (relatively) stronger.
If you ever used to mess around with police scanners or ham radio or the like, think of it as opening up the squelch a little bit (i.e., turning the squelch knob counterclockwise)...it will make the radio stop scanning and try to receive weaker transmissions, but it doesn't necessarily prevent them from sounding all staticky and useless. Same principle here, if I'm not mistaken.
JKILO said:
You can adjust your wimax to be more "sensitive"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I've got it set at -110. It helped noticeably, but it's still not that great. The tower is less than a mile away from my house too.
I live in West Michigan, and the service here is actually not that good lately. Sprint says some towers are down in my area, and they have been issuing partial refunds for service interruptions. I guess that's the best case scenario if your going to have bad service...
My 4g connection is amazing!! Except when it disconnects ..My 3g connection is shady at times very very slow I can't even view streaming videos or music like pandora. I'm in tx
goletaal said:
Yeah, I've got it set at -110. It helped noticeably, but it's still not that great. The tower is less than a mile away from my house too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just a quick question, how do you adjust the sensitivity? I'm currently running CM7 nightly 31 and can't seem to find the option for it.
Sent from my PG06100 using XDA App
EDIT: Signal improvement went away... see followup post below.
Original posting:
---------
Meant to post about this two days ago, and got busy.
I've been one of those with near zero signal in my home neighborhood. I live in Scotts Valley, near Santa Cruz CA. Since I got my Epic last October, I have been extremely frustrated that I get 0/1 bars at home, the signal is too weak to be usable for phone calls (constant digital dropouts -- conversation is impossible), and of course pathetic data rates when I can actually get a connection, which ALSO is never reliable.
When I bought the phone, a tower within sight of my home on another ridge was scheduled to get a Sprint site before the end of the year (2010), according to their website map. Then, this upgrade disappeared. I called, and no one knew anything, of course.
I've been roaming on VZW, who have a 4/5 bar signal here, via Roam Control ever since I got the phone. Fine for calls and text, no data worth speaking about.
Woke up two days ago, and was at first mystified, then thrilled to see 5 solid bars on Sprint!!!! 3G data rates consistently 1100/750 down/up!!!
Apparently, they finally got around to upgrading their coverage in the area. 'bout time
4G? Don't even go there. Not yet, not expecting it... Ever.
Wow my 3g speeds are 200 down max and I have no 4g
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA Premium App
In a way, I have Sprint's poor coverage in my hood to thank for me needing to root and get acquainted with XDA. Otherwise no Roam Control. But it would rock to get a similar upgrade around here. Zoning and landscape just make it really unlikely. If I go just half a mile north or west it's totally different, with 4G and all. Hell, I can watch Netflix over 4G at my office, just not where I stay. I hope your story is repeated far and wide.
I've had the same experience as you. I've been with sprint for 11 years now and my signal is now amazing at the house. 2600 kbps dl, 550 ul. On average, of course. They upgraded the tower nsar my house last year.
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using XDA Premium App
My rwception got worse so to u took my tower I want it back
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA Premium App
Network Vision...
Whosdaman said:
Network Vision...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So this network vision thingy. Do they have a timeline on what cities get it first? Or am I just a needy young man? ahah
Congrats. Anybody else?
UPDATE: After some joy, Sprint decided to turn off whatever they did. Back to 0/1 bars here at home, inability to use voice without constant dropouts, no data to speak of...
Back to Roam Control and cursing Sprint. I am so close to walking away from my contract into VZW's arms. The SG2 could be enough...
Sent from my mind using telepathitalk
Someone with a car airave spent the nite? Lol...
Sent from my Epix 4G using XDA
I live in Missouri (right next to sprint hq), and my service is never steady, usually shabby. But with the new EG22plus modem I get 4 bars constant. U might want to look into updating/rollbacking ur prl and/modem?
Sent from a Random epic
dwallersv said:
Back to Roam Control and cursing Sprint. I am so close to walking away from my contract into VZW's arms. The SG2 could be enough...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Staying exclusively on roaming is the easiest way to break your contract; they'll show you the door, or so I've been told...
double-post - ignore
cresny said:
Staying exclusively on roaming is the easiest way to break your contract; they'll show you the door, or so I've been told...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that's more true if you use a load of data. I use roam control for voice and text constantly because my apartment is a dead zone, and I use my wireless router for data, never got anything about it from sprint
Wizard Knight said:
that's more true if you use a load of data. I use roam control for voice and text constantly because my apartment is a dead zone, and I use my wireless router for data, never got anything about it from sprint
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That describes me. At home forced roaming so I can actually make and receive calls, data over wifi.
With the RC tasker plugin, phone automatically switches between forced roaming when in range of my home network, then back to "automatic" when out of range.
It's a workable solution, but not something I should have to do.
Sent from my mind using telepathitalk
You guys having problems in your house complain enough they will send you a Airrave for free.
Would that not be a Pleasant surprise instead of unpleasant? My signal seems to have gotten better lately as well
tazfanatic said:
You guys having problems in your house complain enough they will send you a Airrave for free.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep. The only reason I'm still with them is because of the free Airrave. Without it, signal in my home was unacceptable.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App in the DC metro area
This may be a bit off topic, but I roam ALLLLL day when I'm at work, it gets me quite angry, and I continue to use data and phone while I "roam" , and saw a charge for roaming one time but called sprint and asked them how the **** I am roaming within my coverage area. They fed me some BS but took the charge away. I've never seen a charge for roaming since. Do you guys get charges?
So far as I know, with my family 2 phone everything plan, roaming is included.
Edit:
I just looked, it doesnt say roaming anywhere, but when looking at changing my services, the only roaming option given is Canada Roaming.
Edit 2:
Found it.
lookpic. com/c1/i2/3841/jL9LKNCy.png
I'm wondering when does sprint 3g gets better? Someone said something will happen on October.
the service is so intermittent that when on 3g, I have to give up any kind of streaming.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
My 3G where I live has been great since I joined Sprint August of last year. I get close to 2 mbps on 3G. However in other areas, it can be a paltry 300 kbps.
I'm getting spotty service. Whenever I use the speedtest app, I get all spiky data pull.
I just want consistent download speed...
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
The best answer any of us can give you is, "When you wake up one day and the service if better, mark that date - that's when it will get better."
Also, when will Sprint customers and XDA members become clairvoyant?
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
October 7 is when they are announcing their plans for the network. After that, we'll have a much better idea of what will be happening with network improvements, the LightSquared LTE build-out, and hopefully WiMax.
mtwow789 said:
I'm wondering when does sprint 3g gets better? Someone said something will happen on October.
the service is so intermittent that when on 3g, I have to give up any kind of streaming.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm an IT guy and any streaming of any kind is not deployed wirelessly so my advice to you as the same to my clients is do your streaming with wired internet and stop relying on a phone to complete your life
mtwow789 said:
I'm wondering when does sprint 3g gets better? Someone said something will happen on October.
the service is so intermittent that when on 3g, I have to give up any kind of streaming.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How about first half of 2012?
http://www.engadget.com/2011/09/27/sprints-lte-build-out-already-underway-new-4g-network-to-launc/
Very excited that they may re-purpose the Nextel spectrum for LTE, since it will have much better building penetration.
I just did speed test when I am on downtown Greenville.
I cant do anything on 3g right now
the network vision will take a while to complete nationwide, however as they update the towers, 800 frequency will help with calls in your home, possibly evdo rev b could be announced in addition to lte (l-band) from lightsquared. It will not be pretty over the next year or so, hopefully with all the cuts they have made and service costs they've increased the money and deals that have been made will make for a truly different cellphone company.
Today's result... I going to try verizon PRL tomorrow
adelmundo said:
My 3G where I live has been great since I joined Sprint August of last year. I get close to 2 mbps on 3G. However in other areas, it can be a paltry 300 kbps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd love to get 300kbps.
They will probably make it better when enough people buy that stupid ass iPhone they are going to start selling cause God forbid someone with an iPhone have ****ty service. LOL
I get better service than that in the middle of no where.
jbadboy2007 said:
I'm an IT guy and any streaming of any kind is not deployed wirelessly so my advice to you as the same to my clients is do your streaming with wired internet and stop relying on a phone to complete your life
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I disagree and I will tell you why that is. If I am at home and using my phone to download from the market, I am lucky if I can download a 1MB app within a 3 to 4 MINUTE time frame. Completely unacceptable when I pay $140 a month for service.
**EDIT** Here is the difference between 3g where I live in Phoenix, and the 1 tiny square block of 4g that's several miles from me. Keep in mind that according to Sprint I "live in an excellent coverage area"
MikeyLee said:
I disagree and I will tell you why that is. If I am at home and using my phone to download from the market, I am lucky if I can download a 1MB app within a 3 to 4 MINUTE time frame. Completely unacceptable when I pay $140 a month for service.
**EDIT** Here is the difference between 3g where I live in Phoenix, and the 1 tiny square block of 4g that's several miles from me. Keep in mind that according to Sprint I "live in an excellent coverage area"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What's your point to that I'm referring to land based internet dsl,cable, fiber optic. I listen to pandora everywhere I go with no issues. my wireless in my house is only for phone and laptop. I have 3 pc's and a ps3 all wired. When I stream blu ray movies I don't let my $800 cisco wifi access point do it. I get one gigabit of bandwidth wired so that's why I do it wired.
Its gonna be a time when you don't need wires. phones are getting faster and faster
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
Faster Sprint speeds may be coming.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1282562
marioc21 said:
Faster Sprint speeds may be coming.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1282562
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think the current problem with Sprint is their backbone, I think they lost tower sharing in many places due to an expired agreement with someone around March. I've had Sprint for nearly 10 years, my phones just don't have signal in many places that it used to and it hasn't gotten better 7 months later. If you have full bars, then the backbone upgrade will likely make things fly, if you have 1 bar or none, it isn't going to help you very much. I would love to know the percentage of complaints that are lack of signal based vs full bars and still slow throughput.
I'd also like to know when the new frequencies that Lightsquared has will begin to be added to the chipsets and implemented into the next gen phones 2012, 2013? Finally is anyone else curious to see what happens when I get a call and my Garmin GPS is on?
jbadboy2007 said:
What's your point to that I'm referring to land based internet dsl,cable, fiber optic. I listen to pandora everywhere I go with no issues. my wireless in my house is only for phone and laptop. I have 3 pc's and a ps3 all wired. When I stream blu ray movies I don't let my $800 cisco wifi access point do it. I get one gigabit of bandwidth wired so that's why I do it wired.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not an IT guy and I can tell you my $50 linksys router can stream simultaneously to a ps3 wii and 360 on seperate floors wirelessly so idk it seems like I'm definitely getting my moneys worth if you can't stream from a $800 cisco one
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA Premium App
MikeyLee said:
I disagree and I will tell you why that is. If I am at home and using my phone to download from the market, I am lucky if I can download a 1MB app within a 3 to 4 MINUTE time frame. Completely unacceptable when I pay $140 a month for service.
**EDIT** Here is the difference between 3g where I live in Phoenix, and the 1 tiny square block of 4g that's several miles from me. Keep in mind that according to Sprint I "live in an excellent coverage area"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where's this block of 4g at?
Sent from my SPH-D700