Jump to content

Virgin Mobile Inner Circle Sprint Extended Coverage


Recommended Posts

So as the title suggest what I'll be discussing is Sprints Extended LTE coverage on Virgin Mobile which if you have their Inner Circle plan seems to be the same network coverage as regular Sprint postpaid a surprising difference when compared to Boost and regular Virgin Mobile android plans, and Sprint MVNOs. All of which are limited in their network roaming capabilities and exclude access to Sprints Extended LTE partners. So recently I posted on Reddit which I'll link in the case you want to read over that Virgin Mobile Inner Circle & Extended Coverage.

So allow me to start, so about a week ago I visited my local Apple Store to see about picking up a Virgin Mobile sim card for the Inner Circle for use on my iPhone X from Verizon. To my surprise I was able to get one at no cost and all they had to do was check it out for their inventory to update, based on their reaction I was the first person to mention or ask about getting a Virgin Mobile sim card. At least at that store or those people. So I got the Sim Card and activated it, ported over a number from a T-Mobile sim I had activated to check coverage. And was all set up with Virgin Mobile Inner Circle for the 6 month $1 promo.

Once I got home I noticed that my device was still reading Virgin LTE even though I was in a US Cellular coverage area, Wayne County and Appanoose County, IA. Both of which don't have Sprint coverage, though a old image I found showed what looked like there was at some point Nextel coverage in Centerville, IA (Appanoose County) but I could never confirm. And when checking in field test mode it showed I was on band 12. Though when my iPhone is right next too a T-Mobile phone roaming on US Cellular or a actual US Cellular phone my phone has a weaker signal compared to the other too, though that could just be my device.

I remember a while back when Sprint updated their coverage map and made the US Cellular LTE roaming the same type of LTE Roaming as other partners such as Nex-Tech Wireless, and am wondering to what extent is the US Cellular roaming native. Is it truly treated like native or should I expect Virgin to hit me up at some point soon and say I need to switch, my usage on the Sprint network each month would be between 20-30%. I've attempted to use as little data off of wifi while on the US Cellular network as possible, but am wondering if this is something I should even be worried about? The website says that my device should indicate when its on a Extended partner but it isn't it says Virgin, someone on reddit gave me a code to enter to see if it would refresh and start reading Extended, it refreshed and said it for no less than a millisecond before switching back to saying Virgin LTE.

So the question is too what extent is US Cellular Extended LTE roaming coverage treated as native coverage the Virgin Map says "Roaming in these areas counts as on network usage. Similar level of service as on network, but not all services may be available."  and Sprint Coverage Map says "These roaming areas are included in your plan. Some services may not be available." will it not matter will I be able to go through the next six months with no problem or should I be prepared to switch to another carrier, by month 6 I'll be well within Sprints coverage area 100% of the time, but what about the end of month 2 or 3.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, EntrepreneurKid said:

So the question is too what extent is US Cellular Extended LTE roaming coverage treated as native coverage the Virgin Map says

USCC usage is counted as native, there are no caps or limits, other than what is already included in your plan. If you're solely using USCC, your account could be flagged, but as long as it's not the majority of your usage, I don't think you'll encounter any issues. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Dkoellerwx said:

USCC usage is counted as native, there are no caps or limits, other than what is already included in your plan. If you're solely using USCC, your account could be flagged, but as long as it's not the majority of your usage, I don't think you'll encounter any issues. 

Well I'm doing what I can to limit data usage on USCC but I can't limit voice or text as Virgin doesn't have wifi calling, yet. Hopefully they get it. But the ratio which I mentioned would be 20-30% on Sprint/Virgin and the rest on USCC though that changes in about 4-5 months to 100% on Sprint/Virgin as I'll be moving to Indianapolis which has Sprint coverage. Hopefully I can make it through till then without getting bumped off. Though most of my data usage has been from me running speed test while in a Sprint coverage area.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, EntrepreneurKid said:

Well I'm doing what I can to limit data usage on USCC but I can't limit voice or text as Virgin doesn't have wifi calling, yet. Hopefully they get it. But the ratio which I mentioned would be 20-30% on Sprint/Virgin and the rest on USCC though that changes in about 4-5 months to 100% on Sprint/Virgin as I'll be moving to Indianapolis which has Sprint coverage. Hopefully I can make it through till then without getting bumped off. Though most of my data usage has been from me running speed test while in a Sprint coverage area.

I don't think they'll be bothered by voice or text usage. It's all about data now. And as long as you're not using hundreds of GBs, you probably won't draw any attention, and then as you said it won't be an issue after you move.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...
  • 3 weeks later...
On 8/14/2018 at 10:21 AM, vryan44 said:

How reliable have you found USCC's LTE network to be?

I've dropped to 1X a lot which is weird as I've had multiple US Cellular devices and they never dropped to 1X, it takes a few tries of toggling airplane mode to return to LTE, and for almost 2 weeks about a month ago I had nothing but 1X with the occasional 3G, again regular US Cellular devices don't do that. So it has to be something with the roaming itself.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • large.unreadcontent.png.6ef00db54e758d06

  • gallery_1_23_9202.png

  • Similar Content

  • Posts

    • This has been approved.. https://www.cnet.com/tech/mobile/fcc-approves-t-mobiles-deal-to-purchase-mint-mobile/  
    • In the conference call they had two question on additional spectrum. One was the 800 spectrum. They are not certain what will happen, thus have not really put it into their plans either way (sale or no sale). They do have a reserve level. Nationwide 800Mhz is seen as great for new technologies which I presume is IOT or 5g slices.  T-Mobile did not bite on use of their c-band or DOD.  mmWave rapidly approaching deadlines not mentioned at all. FWA brushes on this as it deals with underutilized spectrum on a sector by sector basis.  They are willing to take more money to allow FWA to be mobile (think RV or camping). Unsure if this represents a higher priority, for example, FWA Mobile in RVs in Walmart parking lots working where mobile phones need all the capacity. In terms of FWA capacity, their offload strategy is fiber through joint ventures where T-Mobile does the marketing, sales, and customer support while the fiber company does the network planning and installation.  50%-50% financial split not being consolidated into their books. I think discussion of other spectrum would have diluted the fiber joint venture discussion. They do have a fund which one use is to purchase new spectrum. Sale of the 800Mhz would go into this. It should be noted that they continue to buy 2.5Ghz spectrum from schools etc to replace leases. They will have a conference this fall  to update their overall strategies. Other notes from the call are 75% of the phones on the network are 5g. About 85% of their sites have n41, n25, and n71, 90% 5g.  93% of traffic is on midband.  SA is also adding to their performance advantage, which they figure is still ahead of other carriers by two years. It took two weeks to put the auction 108 spectrum to use at their existing sites. Mention was also made that their site spacing was designed for midrange thus no gaps in n41 coverage, while competitors was designed for lowband thus toggles back and forth for n77 also with its shorter range.  
    • The manual network selection sounds like it isn't always scanning NR, hence Dish not showing up. Your easiest way to force Dish is going to be forcing the phone into NR-only mode (*#*#4636#*#* menu?), since rainbow sims don't support SA on T-Mobile.
    • "The company’s unique multi-layer approach to 5G, with dedicated standalone 5G deployed nationwide across 600MHz, 1.9GHz, and 2.5GHz delivers customers a consistently strong experience, with 85% of 5G traffic on sites with all three spectrum bands deployed." Meanwhile they are very close to a construction deadline June 1 for 850Mhz of mmWave in most of Ohio covering 27500-28350Mhz expiring 6/8/2028. No reported sightings.  Buildout notice issue sent by FCC in March 5, 2024 https://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/letterPdf/LetterPdfController?licId=4019733&letterVersionId=178&autoLetterId=13060705&letterCode=CR&radioServiceCode=UU&op=LetterPdf&licSide=Y&archive=null&letterTo=L  No soecific permits seen in a quick check of Columbus. They also have an additional 200Mhz covering at 24350-25450 Mhz and 24950-25050Mhz with no buildout date expiring 12/11/2029.
    • T-Mobile Delivers Industry-Leading Customer, Service Revenue and Profitability Growth in Q1 2024, and Raises 2024 Guidance https://www.t-mobile.com/news/business/t-mobile-q1-2024-earnings — — — — — I find it funny that when they talk about their spectrum layers they're saying n71, n25, and n41. They're completely avoiding talking about mmWave.
  • Recently Browsing

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...