Kyocera Dura XT and Kona not grabbing 1x800

[burnout8488]

My gf's mother and father snagged these phones recently when they joined our framily. They live right on the fringe of 1x1900, and have a decent-enough 1x800 signal in their home. (-90 to -100dBm)

 

Neither phone will connect to 1x800 for some reason, when my Nexus 5 will idle on it. I have verified that the iPhones in their home will also idle on 1x800 as well, and make calls on it just fine. So as you would expect, calls drop and their phones lose service often. 

 

I am wondering if it is possible that these phones have 1x800 disabled in some sort of hidden band selection menu? They are both advertised as supporting 1x800. 

 

Edit: When roaming, the band indicator switches between 1900Mhz and 800Mhz very frequently as needed. When on Sprint, it does not. 

 

 

DuraXT spec sheet confirms 1900 and 800Mhz capability: http://www.kyoceramobile.com/duraxt/DuraXT_Spec_Sheet_en.pdf

[swintec]

Doesnt that part of the spec sheet have to do with roaming?  It says CDMA 1xRTT EVDO Rev. A Dual Band Digital 800/1900 MHz...there is no EVDO Rev A on Sprints 1x800.

[burnout8488]

Doesnt that part of the spec sheet have to do with roaming?

I sure hope not. Maybe a call to Sprint technical support might be in order tomorrow. Thanks for the response though, never thought of that. 

[swintec]

what PRL # do they have?

[burnout8488]

After upgrading, they both had different PRLs. I can't remember off the top of my head, I think the Kona had 55006 (?) and the DuraXT had one that started with a 2. 

[BenChase7]

They should support 1x800. See S4GRU's FAQ's (post#3): http://s4gru.com/index.php?/topic/1704-frequently-asked-questions/

It's been quite a while since Sprint has released a phone that does not support 1x800.

[pokefan02]

My work phone is a Duracore phone and has never connected to roaming or 1x800 which leads me to believe both are blocked on these phones.

[MacinJosh]

I don't know why Sprint is so afraid of 1x800 being used. They should have changed the threshold for when the PRL would start scanning to somewhere around -95 to -98 dBm. Of course, this is my personal opinion. Hopefully once the network matures, they will change it. I would love to have 1x800 on my iPhone when I'm in fringe areas. Less chance of garbled and/or dropped calls.

[mrknowitall526]

Once it finally connects it's great! I can make calls and send texts from my basement and anywhere else in my house. Since my tower got the 1x800 upgrade almost two months ago, my phone spends its time camped on it while inside. Or outside, for that matter. Even in places where the 1900 signal is strong. I am 2.5 miles from the tower but in my driveway with a direct line of sight I can get somewhere around -80 on eHRPD, and 1900 voice was a little more than that. But 1x800 is somewhere in the -60s.

[burnout8488]

I don't know why Sprint is so afraid of 1x800 being used. They should have changed the threshold for when the PRL would start scanning to somewhere around -95 to -98 dBm. Of course, this is my personal opinion. Hopefully once the network matures, they will change it. I would love to have 1x800 on my iPhone when I'm in fringe areas. Less chance of garbled and/or dropped calls.

My gf's 5C and her brother's 5S both will idle on and use 1x800 at their home which is right on the 1900mhz fringe. Perhaps it's area specific? 

 

Kind of sucks 800 is blocked on these Kyoceras, it's the main reason I recommended these devices to them. If I had known it wouldn't work, I would have gotten them a pair of used smartphones that are known to work well on 1x800. 

[dnwk]

I don't know why Sprint is so afraid of 1x800 being used. They should have changed the threshold for when the PRL would start scanning to somewhere around -95 to -98 dBm. Of course, this is my personal opinion. Hopefully once the network matures, they will change it. I would love to have 1x800 on my iPhone when I'm in fringe areas. Less chance of garbled and/or dropped calls.

Maybe it is about inter-band hand over? I have my call drop when I leave 800SMR coverage even though I have PCS coverage. 

[MacinJosh]

Maybe it is about inter-band hand over?

I don't know. That could be it in some areas. But my tower covers an almost 20-30 mile radius, and so most of the area would be well covered by 1x800 and there would be no need for PCS voice at all.

[swintec]

Maybe it is about inter-band hand over. I have my call drop when I leave 800SMR coverage even though I have PCS coverage.

 

i thought the phone will switch between bands as long as 1x800 is off the test SID and set for your local SID.  Some here have said this.

[dnwk]

What's test SID? I need to check if that's the case. In my experience, they drop my call.

[MacinJosh]

What's test SID? I need to check if that's the case. In my experience, they drop my call.

During testing in many areas for interference issues, 1x800 was using a test SID that wasn't included in the regular PRL's so the general Sprint customer could not access the 1x800 voice services. Some individual sites could still be camping on the test SID, and therefore, no direct access to the 1x800 voice service there.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone 5S using Tapatalk