Sprint Phone Connect 2

[4ginnc]

Anyone have any experience using the Sprint Phone Connect 2?  I'm really po'd with CenturyLink right now for several reasons and want to drop my landline service with them and port my number over.

 

I see the Phone Connect 2 supports both 800MHz and 1900MHz CDMA, which is a good thing since the signal in our house in non-existent right now.  By an upstairs window our mobile broadband card works fine so I would assume the phone modem would work ok.  I don't like that it can't handle fax traffic, but I think in the last 5 years I've used the fax maybe 2 times so it's not a showstopper for me.

 

Does anyone know how long the battery will last in a power outage?  How is the voice quality compared to a landline?  I work from home so I need something that will hold onto calls well.

 

Thanks for any feedback.

[digiblur]

I setup the Verizon one for a family member of mine and he loves it.  It is much louder than his old landline that seemed to go down once a week.  With its larger external antenna I had no issue getting the 3 out of 3 bars with it inside his home even though I had a -95dbm signal of roaming VZW signal. 

 

If the broadband card works fine then I bet this would as well since voice works on 1X which doesn't require as strong of a signal as EVDO to function correctly.  Give it a shot and if you don't like it, return it.  Or if you have a decent ping/jitter broadband I'd just go with a VOIP setup.  I use Google voice on my Obi voip box back fed into my home for a phone line.  Sure can't beat free

[MacinJosh]

I had the original Sprint Phone Connect and had a few times where the voice quality was so-so. If you want fax, there is Internet fax, or Vonage if you have a high speed Internet connection.

 

 

Sent from Josh's iPhone 5 using Tapatalk 2

[koiulpoi]

We sell a lot of them here. I've heard rave reviews, and an occasional terrible review. The PC2 is much higher quality than the PC1, if customer reviews are any indication.

 

You do get 3 months free and a waived activation fee if you sign up soonish.

[4ginnc]

I setup the Verizon one for a family member of mine and he loves it.  It is much louder than his old landline that seemed to go down once a week.  With its larger external antenna I had no issue getting the 3 out of 3 bars with it inside his home even though I had a -95dbm signal of roaming VZW signal. 

 

If the broadband card works fine then I bet this would as well since voice works on 1X which doesn't require as strong of a signal as EVDO to function correctly.  Give it a shot and if you don't like it, return it.  Or if you have a decent ping/jitter broadband I'd just go with a VOIP setup.  I use Google voice on my Obi voip box back fed into my home for a phone line.  Sure can't beat free

 

That's what I'm hoping, the external antenna should give me enough signal near the window.

 

 

I had the original Sprint Phone Connect and had a few times where the voice quality was so-so. If you want fax, there is Internet fax, or Vonage if you have a high speed Internet connection.

 

 

Sent from Josh's iPhone 5 using Tapatalk 2

 

 

And that's one of the main reasons I'm leaving CenturyLink.  I can't get high speed internet through Time Warner or CenturyLink at home so the Sprint broadband card and my AT&T wif-fi hotspot are my only options.  And as soon as Sprint gives me 4G here and those new Tri-Band hotspots are out I'll be dropping that AT&T hotspot.

 

CenturyLink really lost me the last couple years because of two things.... First they called me and told me that couldn't use my "unlimited" long distance to dial my conference call numbers for work anymore or they would start to charge me some insane long distance rate.  So I've had to use the toll-free numbers, which costs my company money to dial those instead of using free long distance.  Then, more recently, we've got a farm with a small shed not far from where we live.  They told me I could get DSL there so I've been fixing up the shed to use as an office.  Now after I've spent money setting things up and was about to turn power on, I called CenturyLink back again to have them setup DSL and they're telling me it's not available.  You can't imagine how mad I was.      Still waiting for a manager to call me back but I doubt anything will come of it.  Sounds like I'm SOL.

 

Anyway, I'm ready to stop giving them any more of my money.

[4ginnc]

We sell a lot of them here. I've heard rave reviews, and an occasional terrible review. The PC2 is much higher quality than the PC1, if customer reviews are any indication.

 

You do get 3 months free and a waived activation fee if you sign up soonish.

 

 

That 3 months free, free device and free activation seems like it's going to seal the deal for me.  We were worried about power outages in emergencies but with battery backup I think that solves that issue.

 

I really appreciate all the feedback from everyone.

 

 

EDIT:  One last question, do you know how long the 3 months free will last?  Wasn't clear on the website when I was looking.

[MacinJosh]

 

 

We sell a lot of them here. I've heard rave reviews, and an occasional terrible review. The PC2 is much higher quality than the PC1, if customer reviews are any indication.

 

You do get 3 months free and a waived activation fee if you sign up soonish.

 

 

 

That 3 months free, free device and free activation seems like it's going to seal the deal for me. We were worried about power outages in emergencies but with battery backup I think that solves that issue.

 

I really appreciate all the feedback from everyone.

 

 

EDIT: One last question, do you know how long the 3 months free will last? Wasn't clear on the website when I was looking.

 

I read it only gets 2.5 hours of talk time while on battery power, and up to 30 hours of standby when the power is out. SPC1 had up to 4 on battery.

 

 

Sent from Josh's iPhone 5 using Tapatalk 2

[Fuber]

I just got one, but will not be able to use it until Monday, due to taking so long to port a land line number. I would anticipate about a 10 day wait for them to port a land line number. I know I don't have the best signal at my house, but I have a choice of getting a airave if needed. I might get one just so I have great signal at the house seeing how I plan to get all Sprint phones in about 6 mos.

[digiblur]

They don't let you use it before you port?  I know the Verizon had a temporary number for a few days.  

 

oh the irony...  and Airave to make the Sprint "Landline" box to work  The guy at the Sprint store tried to sell me one to me last time I was there and I mentioned the Airave to make it work.  I laughed and said it would be an odd way to do VoIP, and then I told him about Google voice I use for free already and he just looked like a deer in headlights on both comments.  

[Fuber]

They don't let you use it before you port?  I know the Verizon had a temporary number for a few days.  

 

oh the irony...  and Airave to make the Sprint "Landline" box to work  The guy at the Sprint store tried to sell me one to me last time I was there and I mentioned the Airave to make it work.  I laughed and said it would be an odd way to do VoIP, and then I told him about Google voice I use for free already and he just looked like a deer in headlights on both comments.  

 

Nope they didn't give me a Temp. number option.  I thought about getting the VoIP service using the airave, but figure if the cable goes out (which happens more than I like sometimes) then I would have no home phone.  At least with the Connect 2 I should have some type of service.

[4ginnc]

So while they were porting the number you have no home phone service?  Or is there a way to coordinate the disconnect of the landline with the start of the Sprint Connect?

 

Not sure I can afford to be without home phone for 10 days.

[digiblur]

I find that odd.  Even when I brought up my third line they had a temporary number for the time it took until the port went through.

[Fuber]

So while they were porting the number you have no home phone service?  Or is there a way to coordinate the disconnect of the landline with the start of the Sprint Connect?

 

Not sure I can afford to be without home phone for 10 days.

 

 

 

The way the told me is once my land line stops working then then my Connect will be activated. Was told to leave the Connect off until my land line is cut off or it might cause some type of delay.  So really I'm not without a phone for 10 days.  I also know the person I was dealing with at the store was a new person nor did I think about asking for a temporary number. But he did tell me if I used a different number, and then wanted to use my home number, I would have to bring back the unit to be reprogrammed.  I don't think that was right, but I went with the flow of things.  Just keep in mind they told me 2-3 day for port, but I think in reality it's about 10 days for a land line.  But your landline will work until the port occurs.

[digiblur]

Nope they didn't give me a Temp. number option.  I thought about getting the VoIP service using the airave, but figure if the cable goes out (which happens more than I like sometimes) then I would have no home phone.  At least with the Connect 2 I should have some type of service.

 

I think you missed my point.  In my case to use the Sprint Connect box the Airave would be required.  If my internet went down then there goes the Airave then down goes the Sprint Connect.  Like a box of dominos.  Kind of pointless as I should just use VoIP anyways and get rid of the middle man/box.

[gusherb]

The way the told me is once my land line stops working then then my Connect will be activated. Was told to leave the Connect off until my land line is cut off or it might cause some type of delay.  So really I'm not without a phone for 10 days.  I also know the person I was dealing with at the store was a new person nor did I think about asking for a temporary number. But he did tell me if I used a different number, and then wanted to use my home number, I would have to bring back the unit to be reprogrammed.  I don't think that was right, but I went with the flow of things.  Just keep in mind they told me 2-3 day for port, but I think in reality it's about 10 days for a land line.  But your landline will work until the port occurs.

 

I don't see why they couldn't have just set it up with a new number then put in the port request afterwards. and I don't see why you'd need to have to take it in to "reprogram", maybe just dial a number/code sequence to update and that's it. 

 

I just bought the StraightTalk Home Phone Connect last weekend, it operates on Verizon (even the same model Verizon used until they got an updated slightly smaller model more recently) and to my amazement the sound quality is not bad at all, a novice couldn't tell the difference between it and your traditional POTS line (I surely can, though) 

 

I'm gonna set it up at my mom's shop to back up the Comcast Digital Voice lines there in the mean time but really it's for when I switch from CDV to VOIP when the contract with Comcast is up. I want redundancy as wireline reliability at the location is fair to absolutely horrid from AT&T and Comcast (the only options, and this is right in the middle of Chicago believe it or not!). So cellular is the only other option. 

 

I was really curious about the Sprint Phone Connect 2, and was enticed by the 3 months free and free device but not the 2 yr contract! 

[Fuber]

I don't see why they couldn't have just set it up with a new number then put in the port request afterwards. and I don't see why you'd need to have to take it in to "reprogram", maybe just dial a number/code sequence to update and that's it. 

 

I just bought the StraightTalk Home Phone Connect last weekend, it operates on Verizon (even the same model Verizon used until they got an updated slightly smaller model more recently) and to my amazement the sound quality is not bad at all, a novice couldn't tell the difference between it and your traditional POTS line (I surely can, though) 

 

I'm gonna set it up at my mom's shop to back up the Comcast Digital Voice lines there in the mean time but really it's for when I switch from CDV to VOIP when the contract with Comcast is up. I want redundancy as wireline reliability at the location is fair to absolutely horrid from AT&T and Comcast (the only options, and this is right in the middle of Chicago believe it or not!). So cellular is the only other option. 

 

I was really curious about the Sprint Phone Connect 2, and was enticed by the 3 months free and free device but not the 2 yr contract! 

 

I don't see why they couldn't do a temp number either. But I just wasn't thinking. I thought about the straight talk one also, But I plan to get cell phones in about 6 mos. and kinda wanted to test and see how signal will work here, or if I needed a airave.  But it doesn't matter, Monday morning the thing should be working.

[centermedic]

That's what I'm hoping, the external antenna should give me enough signal near the window.

 

 

 

 

And that's one of the main reasons I'm leaving CenturyLink.  I can't get high speed internet through Time Warner or CenturyLink at home so the Sprint broadband card and my AT&T wif-fi hotspot are my only options.  And as soon as Sprint gives me 4G here and those new Tri-Band hotspots are out I'll be dropping that AT&T hotspot.

 

CenturyLink really lost me the last couple years because of two things.... First they called me and told me that couldn't use my "unlimited" long distance to dial my conference call numbers for work anymore or they would start to charge me some insane long distance rate.  So I've had to use the toll-free numbers, which costs my company money to dial those instead of using free long distance.  Then, more recently, we've got a farm with a small shed not far from where we live.  They told me I could get DSL there so I've been fixing up the shed to use as an office.  Now after I've spent money setting things up and was about to turn power on, I called CenturyLink back again to have them setup DSL and they're telling me it's not available.  You can't imagine how mad I was.      Still waiting for a manager to call me back but I doubt anything will come of it.  Sounds like I'm SOL.

 

Anyway, I'm ready to stop giving them any more of my money.

See if you can find out where your central office is. They stop installing DSL at a certain mile radius because the speed starts to drop off dramatically. I check to see if I can what the cutoff is.

[centermedic]

 

See if you can find out where your central office is. They stop installing DSL at a certain mile radius because the speed starts to drop off dramatically. I check to see if I can what the cutoff is.

 

Looks like 15,000 feet assuming there is no fiber in your area.

 

http://webapp.psc.state.md.us/intranet/Info/dslfaqs_new.cfm

[MacinJosh]

 

 

That's what I'm hoping, the external antenna should give me enough signal near the window.

 

 

 

 

And that's one of the main reasons I'm leaving CenturyLink. I can't get high speed internet through Time Warner or CenturyLink at home so the Sprint broadband card and my AT&T wif-fi hotspot are my only options. And as soon as Sprint gives me 4G here and those new Tri-Band hotspots are out I'll be dropping that AT&T hotspot.

 

CenturyLink really lost me the last couple years because of two things.... First they called me and told me that couldn't use my "unlimited" long distance to dial my conference call numbers for work anymore or they would start to charge me some insane long distance rate. So I've had to use the toll-free numbers, which costs my company money to dial those instead of using free long distance. Then, more recently, we've got a farm with a small shed not far from where we live. They told me I could get DSL there so I've been fixing up the shed to use as an office. Now after I've spent money setting things up and was about to turn power on, I called CenturyLink back again to have them setup DSL and they're telling me it's not available. You can't imagine how mad I was. Still waiting for a manager to call me back but I doubt anything will come of it. Sounds like I'm SOL.

 

Anyway, I'm ready to stop giving them any more of my money.

 

 

See if you can find out where your central office is. They stop installing DSL at a certain mile radius because the speed starts to drop off dramatically. I check to see if I can what the cutoff is.

In pahrump we fiber run thru parts of the valley for AT&T to offer DSL with, but from the nodes to the home it's all copper. From the central office to my house, it's like 10 miles.

 

 

Sent from Josh's iPhone 5 using Tapatalk 2

[4ginnc]

 

See if you can find out where your central office is. They stop installing DSL at a certain mile radius because the speed starts to drop off dramatically. I check to see if I can what the cutoff is.

 

 

 

Looks like 15,000 feet assuming there is no fiber in your area.

 

http://webapp.psc.state.md.us/intranet/Info/dslfaqs_new.cfm

 

 

Right, it depends on where they have fiber runs.  They ran fiber and put it DSLAMs to two of the phone cabinets not far from my house (one less than 1.5 miles away) but unfortunately the cabinet our area is on runs further up the main road and then back down, and they have not run fiber to that cabinet.  One of the local retail managers mentioned they could run DSL extenders from one of the new fiber installations instead of having another fiber run to our cabinet, but they've said it's not in their budget and they won't commit to anything or give any indication they might ever actually do it.  Not to me, not to my County Commissioner and not to the folks at the NC broadband mapping office.  Time Warner is no better.

[centermedic]

Right, it depends on where they have fiber runs.  They ran fiber and put it DSLAMs to two of the phone cabinets not far from my house (one less than 1.5 miles away) but unfortunately the cabinet our area is on runs further up the main road and then back down, and they have not run fiber to that cabinet.  One of the local retail managers mentioned they could run DSL extenders from one of the new fiber installations instead of having another fiber run to our cabinet, but they've said it's not in their budget and they won't commit to anything or give any indication they might ever actually do it.  Not to me, not to my County Commissioner and not to the folks at the NC broadband mapping office.  Time Warner is no better.

That blows.

[spotmeterf64]

That 3 months free, free device and free activation seems like it's going to seal the deal for me.  We were worried about power outages in emergencies but with battery backup I think that solves that issue.

 

I really appreciate all the feedback from everyone.

 

 

EDIT:  One last question, do you know how long the 3 months free will last?  Wasn't clear on the website when I was looking.

 

Not only 3 months free, but also $100 off a smartphone if you buy a PhoneConnect in the same transaction. At least, I think that is still going on. If you haven't bought yours yet and looking to upgrade or add a line soon, it may be worthwhile to stop by a Sprint store to see what deals are going on for the PhoneConnect.

[Rocket87]

 

 

That 3 months free, free device and free activation seems like it's going to seal the deal for me. We were worried about power outages in emergencies but with battery backup I think that solves that issue.

 

I really appreciate all the feedback from everyone.

 

 

EDIT: One last question, do you know how long the 3 months free will last? Wasn't clear on the website when I was looking.

 

 

Not only 3 months free, but also $100 off a smartphone if you buy a PhoneConnect in the same transaction. At least, I think that is still going on. If you haven't bought yours yet and looking to upgrade or add a line soon, it may be worthwhile to stop by a Sprint store to see what deals are going on for the PhoneConnect.

 

It's one or the other you can't combine those offers.

 

Sent from my HTCONE using Tapatalk 2

 

 

[4ginnc]

 

 

 

 

It's one or the other you can't combine those offers.

 

 

 

Sent from my HTCONE using Tapatalk 2

 

 

 

 

 

That's what I thought. And since I want to wait for the tri-band phones before using my next upgrade the 3 months free sounds better.

 

 

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

 

 

[digiblur]

A birdie sent me the PRL for this device today. I should be able to analyze it tomorrow and see what it has under the hood.