We were wandering around Southwestern Colorado last week where Sprint has no service and my S4 would not roam for either voice or data. The wife's S3 worked just fine so I knew there was service. Sprint customer service pretty much said, "huh?' (called on the S3) After poking and prodding on the roaming settings, I turned on international CDMA and international data and it started roaming. Called Sprint again and they said, "huh?" The bad news about roaming is unless you're actually roaming, you can't tell if it's working or not. I don't know if this affects all S4's or just mine (stock rooted) but if anyone has the same issue, I hope this helps.
Related
Over the last few weeks Ive noticed that I can no longer get Edge data on my 8125. It seemingly happened overnight. Ive been in Florida and Chicago and both coverage maps show Edge as being available and Ive used it in the past. Therefore, Im thinking its some type of internal issue with my device. I can only receive GPRS. Has anyone else experienced this problem? Please help.
hayseed said:
Over the last few weeks Ive noticed that I can no longer get Edge data on my 8125. It seemingly happened overnight. Ive been in Florida and Chicago and both coverage maps show Edge as being available and Ive used it in the past. Therefore, Im thinking its some type of internal issue with my device. I can only receive GPRS. Has anyone else experienced this problem? Please help.
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I have had loss of Data entirely with some of the new radio/wm6 combos
it is usually solved by soft reset.
what GSM version do you have 2.19, 2.25, 2.47, 2.61, something else?
I have had dataproblems with 2.47 and 2.61 but then again i got wm6 at the same time so it could be that.
Post the rom version you are using also.
Im using ROM version 2.25.11.1 WWE. Not sure what GSM version. How can I tell?
hayseed said:
Im using ROM version 2.25.11.1 WWE. Not sure what GSM version. How can I tell?
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when it loads up
IPL x.xxxx
SPL x.xxx
GSM x.xxx
OS x.xxx
Just so you know the GSM = Rodio version
The thing i have noticed is that things get messed up on WM phones just like they do on windows computers. Flashing a phone can make problems go away. I am addicted to flashing my phones. recently I have been doing it at least once a day. If you have wireless active sync and a big storage card flashing your phone doesn't slow you down a bit.
I guess what I am saying is try reflashing your phone, or changing the radio only or a simple hard reset, then see if you get your edge back.
I lost my Edge data too
Around the first of February, my phone quit receiving edge data in my home town. icould receive it fine in other areas, but it just went away at home.
four calls to cingular all said the same thing. "We don't offer edge in your area". This despite the fact that I've been using it and paying $45 per month for the past 5 months.
I think I must have been getting a signal from a third party and that party no longer plays nice with ATT.
zanda61 said:
Around the first of February, my phone quit receiving edge data in my home town. icould receive it fine in other areas, but it just went away at home.
four calls to cingular all said the same thing. "We don't offer edge in your area". This despite the fact that I've been using it and paying $45 per month for the past 5 months.
I think I must have been getting a signal from a third party and that party no longer plays nice with ATT.
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How can you tell the difference aside from the speed of it. If you have the reghack to make the "E" icon appear does it change to "G" when you have no EDGE?
I don't think I have ever not gotten EDGE anywhere I have been. I am just kind of curious how you know that you aren't getting it.
I'm curious too
My phone always showed an "E" for edge data just about everywhere I went (I live in SE Kansas). Around the first of February, the "E" changed to a "G" and the data rate slowed to the range called "unusable". I bought the "unlimited" data package and was using the phone to stream xm radio for about 30 minutes a day.
After the "E" went away where I live, I took the phone to Kansas City and the "E" returned, so I don't think the phone was having problems. According the Cingular's service maps, my town is in their "extended" area, meaning I'm probably roaming on someone elses tower (probably Alltel). I noticed that Sprint and Alltell recently inked a deal to share their towers and I notice that both Sprint and Alltell offer their 70k bandwidth data in my area. My guess is Cingular decided I was being a little too "unlimited" so the gave me the axe. I called and cancelled the $40 per month charge.
I've talked to people in Rural SE Kansas who have been called by Cingular and told they are being dropped as a customer because they are making a high percentage of their calls from towers that aren't owned by Cingular.
I've made a big investment in phones with Cingular and will stay on as a customer. My hope is that they'll roll out the data carpet here again soon. If not, I'll switch to Sprint or Alltel....I just hate that little antenna though.
alltel and Cingular
Say what. Altell and Sprint run off of a diffrent network technologies than GSM. I'm sure this might have been do to some roaming agreements expiring. I know that some T-mobile roaming agreements have expired with Cingular and they probably arn't going to renew them. You were probably roaming on another providers network but I can guarantee that it wasn't sprint, verizon or alltell they are not gsm
sandrobber said:
Say what. Altell and Sprint run off of a diffrent network technologies than GSM. I'm sure this might have been do to some roaming agreements expiring. I know that some T-mobile roaming agreements have expired with Cingular and they probably arn't going to renew them. You were probably roaming on another providers network but I can guarantee that it wasn't sprint, verizon or alltell they are not gsm
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An interesting topic, I knew that the formentioned companies were not GSM, however I just got thinking about roaming and coverage with GSM. Does anyone have definative list of what GSM companies have roaming agreements with what other companies and how that works?
I use a company called UNICEL they have the lock down in my area, Vermont, being that vermont and other areas that UNICEL covers are heavily trafficed by tourists that use Cingular or T-Mobile I know that UNICEL has gotten good roaming agreements with them. In fact I have even gotten access credits when my data didn't work on Long Island, NY for an afternoon (I thought that was pretty cool that UNICEL gave me money back on my nation wide data when I was on Cingular's network)
Anyway I wonder if little old UNICEL has such nice arangements in place with other little providers. Perhaps I try to get that info and start a thread about it so others can give info about there networks. It could be a pretty good or at least interesting network.
zanda61 the other thing I find interesting is that your "home area" is not in the Cingular network, I have known quite a few people that have been dropped for doing this. How are you able to maintain your plan? Do you frenquent an area that has Cingular coverage and make calls there?
Phone Home
When I signed up over the telephone, the sales rep said nothing about me not being in their "home" area. I simply made the assumption that they wanted the business so they were offering phones nationwide. We have a family plan with rollover and rarely use our monthly allotment of minutes. Also, my daughter lives in KC so she makes all of her calls on the home network.
We've been customers for about 4 years now and they've never said a word about our usage habits.
I know Sprint and Alltel use cdma phones, but they are the only other carriers in this area. I don't know that much about the radios other than they use a different frequency. But don't they both offer phones with radios that will work at different frequencies?
By the way, thanks for writing back. I hope I haven't hijacked this thread but this stuff is fascinating to me.
So I've been noticing that it seems like whenever I need to roam on at&t I'm greeted with the "emergency Calls only" notification in my status bar..needless to say, edge data doesn't work either..
Is this an issue with my tmo plan or is there a setting on the nexus I'm missing?
Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk
There is a setting to enable Data Roaming on the phone:
/Settings/Mobile networks/Data Roaming.
You'll get a warning about possibly incurring significant roaming charges.
Are you sure the area you're not getting roaming service at actually is covered by any roaming agreement between T-Mo and AT&T? Have you roamed in those areas on another device?
distortedloop said:
There is a setting to enable Data Roaming on the phone:
/Settings/Mobile networks/Data Roaming.
You'll get a warning about possibly incurring significant roaming charges.
Are you sure the area you're not getting roaming service at actually is covered by any roaming agreement between T-Mo and AT&T? Have you roamed in those areas on another device?
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Thanks for the info Distorted..I knew about the data roaming setting, but coming from CDMA cariers in the past, it hadn't struck me that there wasn't a roaming agreement in place where I was. I called T-Mobile and sure enough, that's what's going on.
Sooo. If anyone is here from T-Mobile, how's about we get a roaming agreement or double up on your repeaters in/around Grand Central Station in NYC, eh?
brianbrain said:
Thanks for the info Distorted..I knew about the data roaming setting, but coming from CDMA cariers in the past, it hadn't struck me that there wasn't a roaming agreement in place where I was. I called T-Mobile and sure enough, that's what's going on.
Sooo. If anyone is here from T-Mobile, how's about we get a roaming agreement or double up on your repeaters in/around Grand Central Station in NYC, eh?
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You're welcome, and thanks for the thanks flag!
T-Mobile probably would go bankrupt if they had to pay AT&T for all the roaming that users would end up using. I live in Los Angeles and there are plenty of areas where I get no signal on T-Mo, but AT&T comes in strong.
Where T-Mo works, it works great (better sound and faster data), but those areas are nowhere near as large as they should be.
I have Verizon which I get a corporate discount. I love that I never drop a call But i've noticed that inside buildings data drops a lot even at work I rarely get stable 4g or 3g unlike some that have at&t. coworkers get perfect 3g with at&t... I don't know what to do cause I love Verizon but this is driving me crazy....and I don't have wifi at work
305rob305 said:
I have Verizon which I get a corporate discount. I love that I never drop a call But i've noticed that inside buildings data drops a lot even at work I rarely get stable 4g or 3g unlike some that have at&t. coworkers get perfect 3g with at&t... I don't know what to do cause I love Verizon but this is driving me crazy....and I don't have wifi at work
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Are you grandfathered into unlimited data with Verizon? AT&T is not without its woes. Customer service, overtaxed network, dropped calls and dead spots, updates to phones are pretty slow... If you are rooted you may be able to connect to the internet through USB.
Depends on the area you are in mostly. All networks have their own issues. I'm on Sprint, but Verizon would be my next choice... if only I could have unlimited data...
You could ask 50 people and get 50% one way and the other 50% the other way. I've had great luck with AT&T. I've had very few dropped calls in the five years I've been with them. I've had great luck with customer service. I'm grandfathered into unlimited so I can't imagine leaving to a company that doesn't have unlimited data now. I think Sprint and Tmobile are the only ones left and both those companys seem to have a lot of problem wtih reception, dead areas, and dropped calls here.
My only complaint is that software updates don't seem to come as quickly to AT&T as other companys.
Moved to proper section
neither, is better use t-mobile
Like others have said, a lot of it is variable on where you live. Here in Central PA, I had tons of issues with AT&T (dropped calls, circuits full, etc), and have had none of the same issues with Verizon. When driving from AZ to CA last summer, I had full bars of 3G most of the time, while my friend's iPhone (AT&T) didn't have 3G most of the time. So, I prefer Verizon, based on my experiences.
I seems like you have made your mind. But like, kiltedthrower, not having unlimited data would be a killer. Thats' another reason why I don't change to Verizon. Verizon is a great company. Everyone that has Verizon in SoCal that I know have great reception. So it's up to you...
My Verizon Note 3 is suffering from roaming in areas that it should have a solid 4G connection.
I live and work in the city of Port Huron Michigan 48060 and when I'm at home I get a strong consistent 4G signal but when I'm at work I'm stuck roaming about 90% of the day.
I've had the Galaxy Nexus and Galaxy Note 2 as well in these locations and never had this issue. I'm assuming this has to be some kind of hardware issue but I'm not sure.
When I called Verizon Customer Service they tried to tell me it was because I'm so close to Canada and offered to disable roaming on my account. This didn't work at all.
When I do pick up a Canadian tower I get at least 3 text messages warning me about international charges. This daily roaming issue I'm having does not appear to be connecting to Canadian towers though because I'm not getting that warning message. It just simply has the roaming icon on the task bar and won't connect to any data services (I have data roaming disabled)
I called Verizon again and again and finally they sent me a replacement device and it worked flawlessly for one week then it started roaming in the exact same way as the first phone....
I'm kind of at my wits end with this phone. I love everything about it until I get to my workplace and have to deal with this roaming all day long.
Anybody else having these issues or know a fix? Should I just keep calling back and getting replacement devices until one works right?
My phone's manufacturing date is 10-14-2013.
scodoublet said:
My Verizon Note 3 is suffering from roaming in areas that it should have a solid 4G connection.
I live and work in the city of Port Huron Michigan 48060 and when I'm at home I get a strong consistent 4G signal but when I'm at work I'm stuck roaming about 90% of the day.
I've had the Galaxy Nexus and Galaxy Note 2 as well in these locations and never had this issue. I'm assuming this has to be some kind of hardware issue but I'm not sure.
When I called Verizon Customer Service they tried to tell me it was because I'm so close to Canada and offered to disable roaming on my account. This didn't work at all.
When I do pick up a Canadian tower I get at least 3 text messages warning me about international charges. This daily roaming issue I'm having does not appear to be connecting to Canadian towers though because I'm not getting that warning message. It just simply has the roaming icon on the task bar and won't connect to any data services (I have data roaming disabled)
I called Verizon again and again and finally they sent me a replacement device and it worked flawlessly for one week then it started roaming in the exact same way as the first phone....
I'm kind of at my wits end with this phone. I love everything about it until I get to my workplace and have to deal with this roaming all day long.
Anybody else having these issues or know a fix? Should I just keep calling back and getting replacement devices until one works right?
My phone's manufacturing date is 10-14-2013.
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Same with my note 3. The antennas are horrible in my experience
Sent from my SM-P600 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
The antennas are disappointing in this device but the fact that even the nexus worked tells me it has something to do with the Note 3 and towers in that area. I had a similar problem on the Nexus where it would only not pick up 4G at home, where the tower is almost in my backyard and every other device like the Thunderbolt, RAZR, etc. worked fine. They finally checked it out and said it was a tower configuration issue.
Keep going for replacements. Why? This is the only way they will take notice and eventually when the S5 comes out, you can get one of those as a warranty replacement if you have replaced over like 5 Note 3s. That's how I got my Note 2 anyway. It was a pain but in the end worth it.
Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk
I'm going to drop this here since I know it applies for the S5.
Should apply for any Sprint phone with the GSM support though as well.
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I've been a big advocate for Sprint's purchase by Softbank, it's why I stayed with them.
I also expected a roaming deal on Softbank's networks to eventually surface. It finally has.
$5/month will get you unlimited roaming (voice,text and data) in Japan now on Softbank's network.
You have to switch to GSM/UMTS after land in Japan though for it to use Softbank, or you'll end up on KDDI and get charged.
No word on if B41 (Derp on 46) LTE is supported, guess I'll have to try it out and see. Hoping that's good to go as well.
This is great news for those who visit Japan often. Wouldn't try it though for a longer period.
garwynn said:
I'm going to drop this here since I know it applies for the S5.
Should apply for any Sprint phone with the GSM support though as well.
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I've been a big advocate for Sprint's purchase by Softbank, it's why I stayed with them.
I also expected a roaming deal on Softbank's networks to eventually surface. It finally has.
$5/month will get you unlimited roaming (voice,text and data) in Japan now on Softbank's network.
You have to switch to GSM/UMTS after land in Japan though for it to use Softbank, or you'll end up on KDDI and get charged.
No word on if B41 (Derp on 46) LTE is supported, guess I'll have to try it out and see. Hoping that's good to go as well.
This is great news for those who visit Japan often. Wouldn't try it though for a longer period.
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Great news, I'll be heading to Japan at the end of next month and I was wondering what my options were while there. Thank you for sharing!
I should have more info on this soon.
I know it's running on the 2100 band GSM/UMTS. Just hoping they give access to the LTE bandwidth.
I called Sprint in March to activate the international roaming provision for my S5 and was surprised to hear $5/month unlimited talk/text/data plan in Japan. I traveled to Tokyo in mid-April and enjoyed a solid 3G signal the entire trip. Just a heads up that after landing and switching over to GSM/UMTS at first I wasn't getting any data. I had to update my PRL & profile and after that everything worked great for the entire trip. Meanwhile, my buddy with AT&T ended up renting a mobile hotspot which cost him around $60 for the week.
Guzmantis said:
I called Sprint in March to activate the international roaming provision for my S5 and was surprised to hear $5/month unlimited talk/text/data plan in Japan. I traveled to Tokyo in mid-April and enjoyed a solid 3G signal the entire trip. Just a heads up that after landing and switching over to GSM/UMTS at first I wasn't getting any data. I had to update my PRL & profile and after that everything worked great for the entire trip. Meanwhile, my buddy with AT&T ended up renting a mobile hotspot which cost him around $60 for the week.
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What kind of speeds were you getting on 3G? Did you disable LTE or was it not picking up LTE?
Isn't the roaming plan 2G? Did you buy a pack of 3G data? Or is Japan special since it's our parent company's homeland?
sent from an underwater dust storm from my Sprint S5
mmark27 said:
What kind of speeds were you getting on 3G? Did you disable LTE or was it not picking up LTE?
Isn't the roaming plan 2G? Did you buy a pack of 3G data? Or is Japan special since it's our parent company's homeland?
sent from an underwater dust storm from my Sprint S5
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I didn't test extensively because I was on vacation and quite frankly just happy to have a solid signal. From outside my hotel in Shibuya I was getting 1.1 Mbps down consistently when I tested mid-day. I never had trouble with my signal wherever I was in Tokyo, or at Narita airport. I didn't disable LTE, but I only ever received 3G the entire trip. I didn't buy any extra 3G data, just the $5 monthly charge from Sprint.
Weird (maybe stupid) question about this: does the unlimited voice and text include calls to numbers based in Japan and the US? So in Japan, calling home to the US would be free, but also calling a friend in Japan on his/her cell would be free?
I'm sure you guys have seen this, but
http://newsroom.sprint.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=11970
http://www.sprint.com/landings/openworld/index.html?ECID=vanity:openworld
This is taking the place of the value international roaming as far as I'm gathering across the interwebs. Seems like a pretty solid deal and still includes Japan on there, but I think that data is now charged out $30 for 1gig in Japan and other non-latin american countries.