Original Airave by Samsung to be shut down?

[MacinJosh]

Anyone know when the new version is supposed to be released? If Sprint is going to replace my 1.0, I'd rather wait until the new version comes out.

 

We don't know. All we know is it passed thru the FCC. I would hope for a summer release, but I don't know.

 

 

Sent from Josh's iPhone 5 using Tapatalk 2

[justen]

I got a letter in the mail today saying my Airave 1.0 would be disconnected on August 1.  I bought this baby for $199 back when the Palm Pre was launched, and have found it to be vastly more reliable than the Airvana 2.0 and 2.5 models.  The letter didn't mention any options to replace it, just recommended I donate it to Sprint Buyback for charity.

 

I will hold out until the bitter end and keep my Samsung model.  If I call now they will send me a 2.5.  By 8/1 hopefully the 3.0 will be out and I can get that one. I only need it for a backup when the regular tower goes down anyway.

 

Do you mean that you only plug it in when your local tower is having issues?  My Airvana 2.5 was having persistent issues a few months back, so I unplugged it until I could figure out what was going wrong.  I was away for work for a little over a month, and forgot about it.  I came back to a postcard saying that if I didn't plug it back in I'd be charged a $140 fee.  I plugged it in, but it wouldn't activate.  When I called in, they had already charged me the $140 fee and disconnected the line to which the Airave was attached.  The representative reversed everything and we figured out the GPS puck was faulty.  Still, an annoying hassle.

 

Made me happy I "owned" my Samsung Airave.  So much for that.

[Danzoman316]

For what its worth they were supposed to send me an Airave 2.5 but they are back ordered. Maybe a new model is imminent. 

[larryt510]

I got a letter in the mail today saying my Airave 1.0 would be disconnected on August 1.  I bought this baby for $199 back when the Palm Pre was launched, and have found it to be vastly more reliable than the Airvana 2.0 and 2.5 models.  The letter didn't mention any options to replace it, just recommended I donate it to Sprint Buyback for charity.

 

I got the same letter.  I'll wait until the 3.0 model arrives before asking for a new one.  Don't care how long I have to wait.

 

Do you mean that you only plug it in when your local tower is having issues?

 

Yes.  That is the only time I need it.  My house only has coverage from one tower and when it goes down (4-5 times per year)  it's game over unless I flip the Airave on.  I don't need EVDO on the Airave because the regular tower provides good speeds and plus I have my wifi system.  So the Samsung ver. 2 suits me well. 

 

I came back to a postcard saying that if I didn't plug it back in I'd be charged a $140 fee.

 

Wow never heard of that.  I go months without plugging mine in with no issues.

 

Made me happy I "owned" my Samsung Airave.  So much for that.

 

Agreed.  Bought mine new in box on ebay in 2010 for only $30. Still works great.

[justen]

Do you mean that you only plug it in when your local tower is having issues?

 

Yes.

 

I came back to a postcard saying that if I didn't plug it back in I'd be charged a $140 fee.

 

Wow never heard of that.  I go months without plugging mine in.

 

Yeah.  Never had the issue with the Samsung 1.0 or even the Airvana 2.0; the former was purchased outright, the latter was provided by Sprint at no charge.  I have had both unplugged in the past, for one reason or another, for as long as a couple of months.  Only with the 2.5 model (which they sent to replace a faulty 2.0 model) has there ever been a demand that it be "always on."

 

I suppose if I had purchased it outright, the same restriction might not apply (although you're locked into a contract unless you want to pay $280).  The few times I considered buying one (both the 2.0 and the 2.5 models), I've always been told it is out of stock.  Now that I'm familiar with the Airvana models, I don't think I'd invest even $130 in one, anyway.  We'll see if 3.0 is better.

 

While I feel like I got my money's worth from the Samsung model, I don't like the planned obsolescence.  I'm sure it will make someone's life easier not having to "support" them anymore, but aside from not spitting out 3G, I'm sure they could continue functioning fine for at least several more years if the infrastructure was simply maintained.

[chgoguy80]

Yeah.  Never had the issue with the Samsung 1.0 or even the Airvana 2.0; the former was purchased outright, the latter was provided by Sprint at no charge.  I have had both unplugged in the past, for one reason or another, for as long as a couple of months.  Only with the 2.5 model (which they sent to replace a faulty 2.0 model) has there ever been a demand that it be "always on."

 

I suppose if I had purchased it outright, the same restriction might not apply (although you're locked into a contract unless you want to pay $280).  The few times I considered buying one (both the 2.0 and the 2.5 models), I've always been told it is out of stock.  Now that I'm familiar with the Airvana models, I don't think I'd invest even $130 in one, anyway.  We'll see if 3.0 is better.

 

While I feel like I got my money's worth from the Samsung model, I don't like the planned obsolescence.  I'm sure it will make someone's life easier not having to "support" them anymore, but aside from not spitting out 3G, I'm sure they could continue functioning fine for at least several more years if the infrastructure was simply maintained.

 

 

Airraves don't have contracts nor extend yours even if free, though in theory, since they are free you have to return it if you do not want a fee. We have 2 on our account, different houses, no restrictions, no monthly, free and one is being replaced free though they were idiots and demanded 140 on the 2.0 one since they figured it was not in use/actually was malfunctioning. One call and taken care of, but has nothing to do with your contract.

[justen]

Airraves don't have contracts nor extend yours even if free, though in theory, since they are free you have to return it if you do not want a fee. We have 2 on our account, different houses, no restrictions, no monthly, free and one is being replaced free though they were idiots and demanded 140 on the 2.0 one since they figured it was not in use/actually was malfunctioning. One call and taken care of, but has nothing to do with your contract.

 

You can buy partially-subsidized Airaves for $130 directly from Sprint, which does come with a two-year agreement (but it's presumably yours after that, as opposed to the "free" ones which you must return or pay the non-returned Airave fee).  If you don't want a two-year agreement, you can buy it outright for $280.

[streger]

I recieved a letter in the mail notifying my Airave 1.0 device will no longer be supported on August 1, 2013 (got the letter about June 15th).

 

I also have two airaves on my account, or accounts actually becuase we have 7 phones total.

My home is in the shadows of coverage so we initially got the Airave 1.0 for there. In the 10 years since moving in both my wife and I have changed jobs and our offices get terrible (eg: none) cellular service.

For me, I am located underground, with no windows. I can do Wi-Fi, and older phones allowed me to force the roaming mode so I could use Verizon's signal - can't do that with newer phones unless rooted.

The samsung is the 1.0 model,  white antennae. I think the other Airave is the airvana 2.0.

 

I orignally brought the airvana 2.0 to my office - but obviously cannot get a GPS signal. I took it outisde on a UPS to get a GPS lock and then brought it inside. It synced up and worked for 1 day. Apparently is resets everyday.  So I took it home where it has worked well.  We occasionally get the duplciate text issue.

 

 

Brought the Samsung Airave 1.0 to my work. Same thing, can't get a GPS lock.

Too it home, let it get a GPS lock and initialize then in the morning tossed it and the UPS in the car, drove to work took it inside and plugged in the ethernet. Works great.  Time drift on it is an issue, so every month or so I have to take it home overnight and repeat the process above. ( I keep the whole mess in a small duffel. 

 

But now with the 1.0 not being supported I am once again "screwed".

The 2.0 reboots nightly, and since it can't maintain a GPS fix it disconnects. I am not going to lug that stuff back and forth daily just to have cell service in my cubicle.

 

I'll call Sprint and plead with them again, but I am sure they will claim there is nothing they can do and any femtocell on their network requires a GPS lock.

 

If anyone knows of their Airvana (2.0 or 2.5) running after losing the GPs lock PLEASE let me know.

[kineticman]

Just setup a GPS repeater system. Simple.

 

http://www.gps-repeating.com/

 

Ok so kidding of course. Who knows how much that would cost. Interesting product however. Not sure of the real world use for this.

[MacinJosh]

Another Airave for Sprint was approved by the FCC yesterday. Hopefully soon a new model is released soon. This is the 3rd or 4th since the Airave 2.5 was released. I sure hope this is a sign that they are trying hard to work all the bugs out and they are going to release a good one finally.

[ahecht]

That's not a good sign for a quick release.

[streger]

Just setup a GPS repeater system. Simple.

 

http://www.gps-repeating.com/

 

Ok so kidding of course. Who knows how much that would cost. Interesting product however. Not sure of the real world use for this.

 

I know, you kid because you care.

Seriously, I have looked into EVERYTHING GPS.

The thing is, though I don't work in a Silo  - I do have an office inside a very thick concrete and steel builiding built in the early 1960's   I am 2 floors below street level and roughly 100 feet from an exit....   so as you can see extending an antennae, or even running any wires for a repeater of any kind woudl require involving Facilities.

 

The Airave 1.0 in a gym bag witha UPS wasn't bad, except tfor the time sync slippage

 

I planning to wait about another week before calling Sprint to see if anything can be done.

[Destroyallcubes]

Another Airave for Sprint was approved by the FCC yesterday. Hopefully soon a new model is released soon. This is the 3rd or 4th since the Airave 2.5 was released. I sure hope this is a sign that they are trying hard to work all the bugs out and they are going to release a good one finally.

Any info about the specs it will have, I doubt it would carry LTE, but 800SMR use, or anything like that?

[MacinJosh]

Any info about the specs it will have, I doubt it would carry LTE, but 800SMR use, or anything like that?

From all I could tell, it has an 800SMR beacon, which means it just scans for 800 networks from what I understand. It doesn't broadcast in 800SMR.

 

 

Sent from Josh's iPhone 5 using Tapatalk 2

[Destroyallcubes]

From all I could tell, it has an 800SMR beacon, which means it just scans for 800 networks from what I understand. It doesn't broadcast in 800SMR.

 

 

Sent from Josh's iPhone 5 using Tapatalk 2

Well I am thinking that in the future, pretty soon, that there will be neighborhood devices like these. Small cells in use for sprint. If these could be placed outside and cover an area, I would not mind running it off of my internet for the better of a "hood" haha. They could give small discounts to people who lend their bandwidth to operate a device like this, and it would probably help out small dead zone areas. But it would need to have the ability for possibly more capacity on the device, and a better hand off. And it would be cheaper than building actual small cells, with its own backhaul

[digiblur]

From all I could tell, it has an 800SMR beacon, which means it just scans for 800 networks from what I understand. It doesn't broadcast in 800SMR.

 

 

Sent from Josh's iPhone 5 using Tapatalk 2

Beacons don't scan.. It makes the device kick over to PCS.

[MacinJosh]

Beacons don't scan.. It makes the device kick over to PCS.

Thanks. I wasn't sure about that at all.

 

 

Sent from Josh's iPhone 5 using Tapatalk 2

[ahecht]

It's August 1st and my airrave 1.0 is still alive and kicking. I wonder how much longer before it stops working. Any updates on the new model?

[jdray]

It's August 1st and my airrave 1.0 is still alive and kicking. I wonder how much longer before it stops working. Any updates on the new model?

I have yet to receive any notification about the 1.0 being turned off.

 

Mine still works, and its needed badly. I barely get better than -95dBm outside my house, yet 1/2 mile away i get 4G with high speeds. I have to wait until i am that far from the house before attempting a call.

[dmelling]

Just found this topic...I called Sprint last night because I have crap data and crap calls at my house.  They are sending a techician to the towers to check them out.

 

My question is....I have internet with a local WISP  and only have 1.5 down/750 up.  Pings are in the 70's.  Would the Airwave work on this?

[adamjt]

Any updates on the new airave?  Moving to a house with no signal and was hoping to use my 1.0 before.

[WiWavelength]

From all I could tell, it has an 800SMR beacon, which means it just scans for 800 networks from what I understand. It doesn't broadcast in 800SMR.

Beacons don't scan.. It makes the device kick over to PCS.

 

If so, the next generation Airave does include a CDMA1X 800 carrier.  But that carrier transmits only pilot, sync, and paging channels.  It does not allow traffic channels.  The paging channel then includes a message that redirects mobiles on the Airave to CDMA1X 1900.

 

AJ

[digiblur]

If so, the next generation Airave does include a CDMA1X 800 carrier. But that carrier transmits only pilot, sync, and paging channels. It does not allow traffic channels. The paging channel then includes a message that redirects mobiles on the Airave to CDMA1X 1900.

 

AJ

That must be what they refer to as the "beacon" in the FCC docs. Makes sense though.

[MacinJosh]

That must be what they refer to as the "beacon" in the FCC docs. Makes sense though.

Yeah, it does make sense to me too. Keep the 1x800 open for the macro network so there is no interference from the Airave's.

 

 

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