halcyoncmdr

And they really only need about a quarter of them. Ridiculous.

 

Sent from my little Note2

They actually are in the process of merging many of the PRL families together now. I believe the 66xxx series merged with the 24xxx series for starters (I could have the numbers completely wrong, so don't quote me on it, haha).

I regrettably spent a little time over at the sprint community forum this weekend end. Its ridiculous how pissed off and impatient some people are over there. It is almost depressing. Then you try and tell them so just calm down and be patient because lte is coming. Try explaining that Verizon's lte network(which they like to compare sprints to all the time) did not just appear over night. Its like they dont even read what you posted and they come at you like they are a mother bear and you just stole there newborn cub. Needless to say I gave up on those people. I knew better than to go back over there, but I did it anyway.

Welcome to my day job.

I picked up an Optimus G sealed new from ebay as a LTE hold over until the GS4 or the Note3 comes out. Pretty cool phone but I don't think I can go back to LCD after being spoiled from Amoled.

 

Couple of things bug me about it though.

 

1. The camera is pretty bad in comparison to the Epic 4G Touch. Even though its 13MP it reminds me of a 5MP in terms of quality. I also noticed it has a hard time focusing as well. Photos are really warm.

 

2. I get some sort of feedback\interference sometimes in the ear piece when I talk. Its mentioned on the web there may be a shielding issue with both the Nexus 4 and the Optimus G. Anyone else get this?

That doesn't sound right. All of the pictures I've seen taken on the Optimus G have been superb. The Epic Touch has a pretty mediocre camera for today's standards. My GS3 takes much better pictures than my S2 ever did.

As for the screen, I'd have to say the Optimus G looks TONS better than my Galaxy S III, personally. AMOLED is nice, but the Pentile layout Samsung uses is an Achilles heel for sure. IPS+ LCD is simply better, in every sense of the word than a pentile AMOLED screen. The only thing is that AMOLED takes up less power when operating with a true black color, but how often do we ever get true black?

I haven't had anyone come into my S&R store complaining or asking about an earpiece/mic shielding issue. We are a Top 100 store, so chances are we'd have someone come in if it were at all widespread.

Overall it sounds to me like you may have gotten a bad phone. Have you gone into a local store with one on display to check them out side-by-side?

I think you all (most at least) might be surprised by the sheer number of different PRLs that Sprint has for different reasons/account types.

There are different PRLs for 3G EVDO / non-EVDO / LTE / WiMax devices, then there are different ones for each type of Data Card as well (3G Only / 3G+WiMax / 3G+WiMax+LTE), etc.

Then you have the different PRLs for corporate accounts versus consumer accounts... It actually makes me a little sad (personally) that Sprint employee lines are only slated to get standard consumer PRLs and not the corporate 3G roaming PRLs.

Interesting charge though for forwarded calls: charged at $0.20 per minute unless you're on an UNLIMITED Simply Everything plan

Ah but read closely... The $0.20/min charge is only for unconditional call forwarding. If you setup no answer/busy conditional call forwarding (like for a 3rd party voice mail service) and then turn off your phone, it is the exact same thing.

Also, even though the WiFi switch will be "on" in the settings, it does not scan constantly for a signal like many people think. So it only uses extra power when scanning periodically for a known WiFi signal to use instead of 3G. If you manually turn on/off your WiFi when you know it is available, then the Connection Optimizer will make almost no difference for your experience, the only thing it may do is make your battery life worse in the event you do it EVERY time you go in/out of WiFi range.

For the average user, it will actually probably increase battery life and overall user experience. I'd imagine most users never think about turning WiFi on/off at home or when travelling.

LOL, tower is down.. What a lazy answer. But like Robert said before, its going to get worse before it gets better. T_T

Well there has been a nationwide ticket open for 3 days now about data and text issues with errors 67 and 2112 respectively. Not to mention actual tickets for towers down... So not necessarily a wrong answer.

A couple different people I know had a strange occurrence a few nights ago...

The phone lost all signal, then a short while later turned back on with LTE showing in the notification bar, but no data at all accessible (4G, 3G, 1xRTT). Then after a few minutes, when blank again, then back to standard 3G. Not sure if I'd believe one person, but I got the same story from two different people, with two different model phones (Optimus G, Galaxy S3), on two different nights.

Every phone will have this issue when you COVER THE ANTENNA ENTIRELY with absorbent material (like your body).

If anyone wants, I can tear just about any phone apart at work tomorrow and post pics, labeling what I know along the way. Can't upload them at work, S4GRU is blocked as a sports site (WTF?). Carrier-specific versions often are different from each other. The iFixit GS3 teardown for instance is for a GSM variant which is different from Sprint's.

http://support.sprint.com/support/article/Use_Call_Forwarding_on_your_Sprint_phone/case-wh164052-20100805-133947

Sprint.com support article for Call Forwarding.

Didn't work for me as I have had the name set for a long time above my lines they didn't show up on any land line. I tested this today and it shows up now.

Hmm, worked for me when I changed mine to Tiger Blood after Charlie Sheen's (meltdown?).

This isn't a new feature, just a better interface to change it. The name shown above your phone number was your CallerID name previously. Clicking it let you change it. There was nothing obvious about that feature though, so I think most people missed it completely..

Hey, it could have been Winslow, AZ. So, "take it easy."

 

 

AJ

At least Winslow has a song about it!

That being said... Lake Havasu is a huge party area, and small geographically (little work to launch in comparison). Not surprised at all to see it on that list.

Sprint has already got $3.1bn from Softbank in the form of a convertible loan - I think this enables them to do Clearwire irrespective of whether the SB/Sprint deal gets approved - if the deal is blocked then SB will simply be a lender to Sprint rather than a shareholder/owner.  Having bid $2.2bn for Clearwire, there is even some scope for Sprint to up the bid in the event of a counterbid (like the one from Dish). The issue, if the SB/Sprint deal is turned down, is how Sprint will fund the rollout of the 2500 spectrum from Clearwire, given that the second installment of cash from SB (4.4bn) would not be forthcoming.

That's why I assume it won't happen if the SoftBank deal doesn't happen... Sprint had to Create the new Clearwire because they didn't have the cash to deploy a new network. Even with the 3.1B already, Sprint won't have the capital again without SoftBank. So I don't forsee it happening even though Sprint has the cash on hand to buy Clearwire.

That is your SIM card unlock codes. They have been around for years. It's a security feature to protect the customer's information on the card. However, Sprint, afaik, is the first carrier to make it easy for you to obtain these numbers.

Yes, they do not "unlock" the LTE to use on different carriers. They just unlock the SIM card if you happen to lock it on accident. Usually you have to call into Customer Care to get your PUK code, this is the first I've seen the website give it out.

There goes my chances of getting rid of my spending limits. I'm right now set up on payment arrangements because money is really tight until my school refund comes in in early February, and I don't have the money to pay my bill. I just hope the payment arrangements will last long enough for that.

Payment Arrangements are completely fine. As long as you have them setup before you fall behind with late fees, etc.

Everyone has times where money is tight, Sprint doesn't punish you for that. You are punished for not having the money and not notifying Sprint that the payment will be late and negotiating an arrangement in the interim. The finance department is willing to work with people with quite a bit of leeway honestly.

Lol we have a similar credit score so maybe age played a factor and the fact I've been to all carriers except T-Mobile

 

Sent from my Sprint Galaxy Nexus rockin 4.2.1 using Tapatalk 2

Your raw credit score is only on portion of Sprint's credit determination. It also takes into account previous history with other companies like AT&T and Verizon (late payments reported to the credit bureaus, etc.). Age, estimated likelihood of non-paid disconnection, estimated income based upon a number of average criteria, etc. To be honest, your raw credit score doesn't mean much in the grand scheme. It just provides a place to start from. This is also why even after being with Sprint for only a year, some customers can have their credit re-run and get much better results. It alls depends on how you deal with Sprint. The initial setup is only a small portion. I've seen customers go from 2 lines, $100 deposit each, $150 spending limit each; to having available 5 lines, no deposit, no spending limit with only a year of their contract over. It all depends on how valuable you make yourself to Sprint. It is a business after all. If you pay your bills on time and make Sprint money, the system will automatically give you perks (whether you realize it or not, and whether you will utilize those specific perks or not is of no concern to Sprint). You make Sprint money, you are allowed to expand that, if that makes sense.

Yep, international travel is the only reason why I'd want Sprint to move to removable SIMs.

 

Domestically, it would be nice and convenient in some ways, but I've survived this long by doing ESN/MEID swaps online or on the phone so I don't really care about swapping SIM cards in the US.

You can also activate a new Android device directly from within Sprint Zone as well. As long as you have a working Internet connection through WiFi you can do the entire swap there without having to type in any ESNs, it will let you do it all from within the app after logging into your account.

Hopefully in the future Sprint allow manufacturers to make a SIM removable and be a true world phone (at least in the higher end models) that I can use both domestically as well as internationally without having to pay the huge charges. Hopefully it will be in the Note series). Removing the sim and putting in another country's sim card (and using an app like tweakker to set up the global APNs) would be awesome when I'm traveling overseas without having to get a temp phone.

Sprint's international GSM devices historically have had removable SIMs. It is only recently with the LTE devices that the SIMs are embedded. In addition, Sprint was I believe the only national carrier to have an unlocked GSM SIM slot on their devices. AT&T and T-Mobile locked theirs out of the box for obvious reasons, and Verizon did so too because they like having complete control over everything (ISIS vs Google Wallet anyone?).

As I said before, what I've read was that the plan has always been to have replaceable SIM cards in the LTE devices. It's just the initial phones that won't (the exact reason was not disclosed to me). Given Sprint's historical willingness to have unlocked global GSM devices, I can't imagine the company simply changing that policy permanently with the transition to LTE.

Sprint has used TeleCheck since at least when I started (August 2007), most likely a lot longer.

Does the Galaxy Nexus have separate options for international and domestic roaming? I know my GS3 has separate roaming options for each to be controlled independently.

Every Sprint site that I have been to in Florida has had a generator. I think the potential for power outages caused by natural disasters has something to do with it.

Yeah, areas that are more prone to power outages (for whatever reason, usually weather but it may be something as simple as the local power company being unreliable) are more likely to have backup power available on hand stationed at the site semi-permanently or permanently.

You do know the difference between a SIM error which is what you are describing and a SIM failure don't ya?

Yes, but both manifest nearly identical symptoms. Both are easy to check for. One involves cleaning the other involves replacement. The simple fact is that the number of SIM failures at this point are going to be very small in comparison to the number of simply bad or dirty SIM connections. I don't know how many iPhones that have given SIM errors I've fixed by simply popping the card out and back in. A simple SIM re-seat does wonders in many instances, something that the average custoemr doesn't even consider for some reason. Same thing goes for SD card issues as well.

Watch out for what you wish for. Here is something to think about? How many VZW customers had to have replacement SIM's sent to them because they are malfunctioning? You see loads of threads on other forums about it.

How often is that an issue with the SIM simply being dirty and not bad? We see it fairly often in my S&R location with iPhone's coming in with "No SIM" errors. We take the card out, clean the contacts with some denatured alcohol, pop it back in, and voila! it works. I'm 99% certain that many retail reps don't bother to take the time to triage issues, and those in S&R locations are at an advantage in that regard with the techs. Even then though I know from experience in the IT side of businesses (Not just Sprint), many that work in IT have no place being there, the vast majority have the credentials and such, but many do not have any simple common sense. Others don't even have the credentials or the will to learn and are a lost cause.

That as well, as an addendum to my previous post. The automated swap tool does not support Sprint plans outside of "advertised" ones. It comes up with the plan change screen if, as I mentioned, you switch from (for example) 4G WiMAX to 4G LTE. Or if it freaks out over SERO, etc.

The plan swap screen comes up because backend codes require being swapped for the device to function correctly. 4G WiMax and 4G LTE codes on the backend are in no way related. The actual "plan" you are on means very little to be billing system. A basic voice only "plan" has about 8 different backend codes to make it function. Things like voicemail,etc. all have different codes according to which voicemail server the phone needs to route to. For example, the basic voicemail server for flip phones is different from the old Android servers, the newer Visual Voicemail servers add even more complexity, and the iPhone's have their own setup. Each of these require different network SOC codes to route correctly, so depending on which phones you are swapping from/to the automated system may not be able to handle the number of code changes, or the specific codes required for it. If you have obscure plans like SERO or Everything Plus you are much better off just calling in. Some may like to view it as, in exchange for the discounted plan, you are more prone to weird issues with automated systems not working right, or at all. IF you are on a current regular plan, these issues don't usually occur. Grandfathered doesn't mean still supported.

AJ has theorized that removable SIM's will come about with Sprint after the sunsetting of the Nextel iDEN network. iDEN devices use SIM cards.

 

Robert

This is my semi-educated guess. From what I remember long ago when Sprint first was talking about NV updates, LTE deployment and the shutdown of iDEN, external LTE SIM/UICC cards were planned. At the moment embedded chips suffice for network usage, and knowing the average person thinks they can simply swap SIM cards around without any negative issues (there are several in reality) people likely would be putting incorrect SIM cards in phones. It already happens with custoemrs putting their old iDEN SIMs in Sprint worldphones thinking that will make them work.

Cole's Axiom... "The sum of the intelligence on the planet is a constant; the population is growing."