halcyoncmdr

Yuma only has a handful of towers in comparison. Tucson has the bulk of the towers in all of southern AZ. Yuma and the freeway leading towards Casa Grande only have about 18 towers total, 1/3 of which are in the Interstate, so that leaves only about a dozen in Yuma and the surrounding area. Tucson metro has about 130 or so, I'm too lazy to count them all myself. There are 15 currently open Network Vision tickets in the event board for the Tucson metro area, and that doesn't even match up with some of the info S4GRU has gotten about towers being worked on currently (other info I have access to does match up with S4GRU so it is legit, just the NEB doesn't). There are more towers being actively worked on than open Network Tickets for the average minimum-wage Care rep to look through. Considering work only just started a couple weeks ago, they're averaging about 1 tower a day in Tucson and the surrounding area. Keep in mind, this is 1900 CDMA only. Which is ok, a stable 3G network to fallback on while testing 4G is better than an unstable 3G to fallback on and testing 4G. For the average person, stable 1+ Mbps 3G with a low ping is all they need.

Are you sure WiFi/BT sharing the same path means they can't be used all the time. I'm pretty sure that's not how that works. I have BT on ALL the time (pebble smartwatch, and WiFi on 90% of the day and have never had issues with either simultaneously (Galaxy S3). I think 99% of phones have them on the same path due to the spectrum use.

The camera is easily replaceable on the S3. A Service and Repair store should be able to swap that out no problem.

Because Sprint has a set timeframe for when it is announcing new cities in groups. Otherwise they would be announcing new cities that are coming soon every few days.

For 99.9% of customers, warranty policies aren't even a consideration. I'd put money on MAYBE 1 In 10,000 customers having an issue. In 5 years I've had no customers complain about warranty and exchange policies in store, if it were a big issue I think I would have seen at least one by now. No, Wal-Mart is just cheaper. There is no real brand loyalty to them, they just undercut everyone else in the area and once competition is gone they bring prices back to normal. Their policy is flexible because they sell everything and even if they didn't sell it, the number of warranty returns to vendors are just a drop in the bucket compared to their overall business. You are comparing a multinational retail conglomerate that treats their employees like complete shit (I have numerous friends that have worked for them over the years), to a phone carrier. There is no comparison.

Actually, that's not the reason the SIM is locked and you can only unlock it after a set time. The time frame is set to avoid fraudulent account activity. World phones have an exponentially higher fraud risk than non-world phones. The delay is designed to be long enough that fraudulent accounts/purchases/etc. are unlikely to occur. Fraud in the mobile telecom business is HUGE and most policies that seem anti-consumer are in place because of fraudulent activity in the past. Cell phone locking by carriers is covered under the DMCA (whether it should be or not is up for a debate in another thread). The ability to unlock your phone is not a protected consumer right in the U.S. (yet), and most US carriers have limitations on unlocking devices. I would also point out that every Sprint world phone released to date (except the iPhone) is unlocked out of the box. When you call up Samsung support do they send you to Sprint saying the warranty isn't handled by them because they aren't the carrier or the place you bought it from? No, they handle the warranty because they made the product. They may recommend that you go another route like through a carrier S&R store because it would be faster, but they also provide their own support options (the same as Sprint recommending you go through the manufacturer if you don't have Sprint's protection plans because it would be free instead). All of this is pointless. Sprint does not provide warranty support for free, they are not required to, they aren't going to change this fact because a handful of people don't think it's right when the business bottom line results in millions of cost savings by not doing so. It's a business, during a recession, still recovering after a horribly failed Nextel merger, maintaining two separate networks, in the midst of a $20 billion network replacement, while still maintaining lower prices than the competition in most cases.

Each tower is always going to vary. The users in a given tower Determine the performance of it. If you have a ton of people streaming Netflix on a tower it's going to be more loaded than another tower with 10x the people but they are only browsing the web.

Sprint used to provide in-store warranty service free of charge. That changed. I do not know the reasoning for this, my best educated guess as a technician in the industry and working with customers daily, is that a few customers out of the many were taking advantage of this system (like always) and it was determined that the cost savings associated with no longer offering this would outweigh potential (and unlikely) subscriber loses associated with it. As an upshot, it also likely would drive more customers to purchase Sprint's protection plans as they would effectively cover not only warranty issues in store, but also wear and tear damage on the devices as well, and potentially lost/stolen/liquid if customers went with TEP and not just ESRP. Not all dealers provide warranty service, and they are not required to. Again, Sprint does not make the devices, Sprint just sells authorizes their use on the network, and provides a direct sales channel to customers. There's nothing preventing you from purchasing your Sprint authorized phone from any place other than a Sprint store, Best Buy, RadioShack, Amazon, etc. all sell the devices as well. Do you think they should be required to provide warranty service as well? Because that's exactly what Sprint's sales channels are in comparison to the manufacturers of the devices. Actually, I would because I own my modem. If I were to be renting it from Comcast, then they would replace it because it is their property. Instead of paying the $3/mo to rent the box, I paid $50 up front and it's mine. It's running on 8 years and counting without issues, because I take care of it (the same can't be said for 90% of the phones I see come into my store for S&R). That is because Dell offers their own warranty on their pre-built computers. Computers that they manufacture The physical hardware in the laptop also has a warranty from the individual part manufacturer usually. You could go through nVidia to get it replaced if you wanted in most cases, but Dell offers a more convenient warranty option. They even advertise their own warranty on their products that they build. Sprint does not build the phones, Sprint just sells them. This is where people seem to get things confused all the time. Again, this doesn't have to do with Sprint. Sprint does not make the phones; HTC, Samsung, LG, ZTE, etc. do and they have their own warranty service options. Sprint offers TEP and ESRP to cover the manufacturer's warranty in store with no charge. Sprint also offers a very reasonably priced $50 deductible essentially for the convenience of having your phone serviced in store instead of having to go through the manufacturer. This is not your only option, and the free alternative is to go through the phone manufacturer instead. Sprint no longer wants to be the middle man eating the cost of products being exchanged that aren't going to be covered by the manufacturer under the warranty.

At least a couple years. Before I switched from sales to tech.

Unfortunately most people don't view it this way. They EXPECT the carrier to handle warranty issues directly, for free, immediately, with a new (not refurbished) device. Even if the issue is software, or repairable. Welcome to my day, every day. Open Enrollment requirements state the phone must not have issues with it to be eligible... officially. Just sayin'... Your mileage may vary, if you are denied don't get angry because that's the way it is supposed to be. It's a manufacturer warranty. Sprint is not the manufacturer. Sprint will play the middle man for you, for a fee. The Repair/Exchange fee if you do not have ESRP or TEP is $50. If you have either of those Sprint protection plans then it is free. Honestly, I think the exchange fee should be more around the $100-200 range with today's smartphones as that's usually the cost associated with sending the device back to be refurbished/etc.

Because the ones who actually care about the Network and educating themselves about it, usually are Sensorly users, and usually decide to go with the company that historically has been the most pro-consumer when it comes to data; whether by necessity or not.

That is entirely based on what other users on that tower/sector are doing. It's quite possible the slow times are when everyone is using their data, whether they realize it or not. For example, Google Play updating all 50+ apps a person has downloaded because their battery saver app keeps turning data off all the time, but now they have it plugged in so it turns it on and there are a ton waiting to update. This is why I'm an advocate for people utilizing WiFi at home and checking for app updates there, where the spectrum constraints are non-existent.

SoftBank has a ton of cash, and plenty coming in. Last year they had ¥313.7 billion in net income, that translates to about $3.33 billion. That's not overall revenue, that's net income. And that's a growth over 2011.

Tucson has 6 currently open network tickets denoting Network Vision sites being worked on. Yuma has 2. Oro Valley, Catalina, Bisbee and Willcox have 1 each.

FTFY Same thing that always happens. It happened with data years ago, now it's happening with minutes. Actually slightly different this time, not minutes and data are just switching spots because people don't talk anymore, they use the Internet instead so that's where money on the overage charges can be made. People like unlimited because they don't have to worry about it, regardless of their real usage. It's all marketing.

The phone won't let you format the card while it is mounted in the file system and in use. You have to unmount the SD card from any Android phone before formatting it, otherwise any application could be accessing it at the time you try and format it. Usually the unmount and format options are in the same screen (I don't know where it is on the EVO LTE off the top of my head , probably in Settings > Storage somewhere).

I believe the old equipment only supported one band per panel, and only a couple of carriers each. The new equipment is MUCH more capable than the old equipment. A single panel is capable of attaching multiple RRUs (6 I think) and those can independently support different bands within the spectrum available and multiple technologies (1xRTT/EvDO/LTE) out of the same panel.

This canned text has been available for Care reps to send to customers that are experiencing Network Vision-related disruptions since the build-out started. It may be that they are taking a more proactive approach now that NV is getting into full swing for the next phases.

And this is why government-sponsored monopolies that were contracted 20+ years ago need to disappear. I'm hoping the threat of Google Fiber will start this trend, but Google needs to expand outside of Kansas to do it, even if by one city. It will scare the monopolies, even if only a bit.

When NV is complete yes. For NV to be complete, a site must have the new panels, RRUs, and enhanced backhaul hooked up, with the new 3G and 4G equipment activated. If any one of these is missing, it is not considered entirely complete. Individual parts can be completed and approved however. A site can be partially completed, either having the new 3G only or 4G only activated. This can be caused by a number of different things, and also depends on which contractor is deploying the tower. Alcatel-Lucent seems to like upgrading 3G first, then going back for 4G later. There are hundreds of different little things that go into upgrading a tower to Network Vision, since it is essentially a complete replacement of the network. If any of these are missing, it isn't completed.

Accepted sites are those that have had work done and Sprint has accepted it. AKA, the contractor gets paid because Sprint says that work was done correctly and within the contract terms. It does not mean that all work is done, a site can be accepted for 3G or 4G only as a partial upgrade. Build-out references the actual work being done on the towers. All of the panel/wiring/backhaul/etc. upgrades being done to the towers. It may also be referred to as deployment, or just Network Vision in general.

IF your is afffected no data would work. An AN_AAA failure prevents the phone from authenticating for ANY data on the network. This is why it constantly switches back and forth between 3G and o as it keeps trying.

Our area is former USWest/Qwest before CenturyLink arrived/merged. USWest was great, Qwest was horrible. I don't have a lot of experience with CenturyLink yet, but I'm not hopeful.

That depends. The iPhone 5 has had a lot of data issues (on all carriers). One was fixed with a carrier file update. The AN_AAA authentication failure is something that gets corrupted and even a full software wipe and reflash will not correct. It requires the phone to be replaced. The iOS 6.1.2 software fixes the cause, but it cannot bring back a phone that's already corrupted. The symptom of this issue is the phone switching back and forth between the 34G and o icon (failing network authentication). This can also be caused by a phone failing multiple times due to an outdated NAI and being locked out. The testing steps to determine whether it falls into the AN_AAA criteria: 1. Wipe the device (erase all content and settings for restore in iTunes). 2. Leave the phone OFF for at least 30 minutes (this allows the network side block to timeout if it is in effect due to failed logins). 3. Turn the phone on and go through activation again. 4. The phone will either reactivate with correct information and work correctly, or will still switch between 3G and o. IF it is still switching it is affected by the AN_AAA issue and needs to be replaced. 5. ??? 6. PROFIT

I wasn't referring specifically about AZ in that post, just a generalized statement. It is quite true that the southwest is the Cable company capital, and that AT&T and Verizon don't have major networks here. However, on the same token Cable companies have very little incentive to upgrade their equipment here as well. They all have virtual monopolies in their markets here. Very little competition, and the little that is here isn't really comparable. For example, take Tucson. Cox and Comcast are here, due to agreements with local governments dating back from their beginnings, there is only about a 5 square mile area that they overlap. The only other major player is CenturyLink. And CenturyLink I have never seen do anything to upgrade old lines anywhere here (I could be wrong, but I've never seen it). My neighborhood is only capable of receiving 1.5Mbps DSL through Centurylink, but we can get 50Mbps cable through Comcast. The new subdivision 1/8 mile from us have fiber to the box and can get 25+ from CenturyLink at the house. The majority of our neighborhood would rather have CenturyLink than Crapcast, and have been vocal about this, but they still haven't done any upgrades for 10 years here despite having 100+ potential new customers off a single box. The competition is virtually non-existent so they don't care about it. This is one of the things that I hope Network Vision will bring about as a side effect. Since fiber to the tower is going to be a huge part of NV, it also means that new fiber is going to go live in a TON of new places, potentially decreasing the cost of the local companies to increase speeds for consumers in the surrounding areas since the lines are already down. Maybe I'm too hopeful. For Cricket, it doesn't take much to upgrade your network when you're only planning a handful of cities. Cricket's nationwide network is entirely dependent on roaming partners, the vast majority was not native when I last checked. AS for other providers upgreading speeds years ago, again part of this may be a limitation of the legacy equipment. I don't know exactly how the old towers are setup, but I do know most rely on T1 lines, whereas the new equipment is all Ethernet. It may be possible that the old equipment isn't financially viable to retrofit new backhaul to versus just replacing it all with NV. As it is now we're looking at a year left with deployment, with a T1 line taking potentially 6 months to install, that's pretty close to not being worth the hassle in my opinion. Don't forget anything that may already be in the pipeline to still be installed that was started who knows how long ago.