halcyoncmdr

And yet they continue to increase rates.

As more people switch to renewable sources of energy that are not grid-dependent, the costs of maintaining the grid in turn end up on the back of the remaining customers.

So the people fleeing the utility because of their increasing rates, are also causing the rates to go up a tiny bit for everyone else that stays. Nowhere near the amount the power company then increases their rates by, but it is a factor (one they love to tout in my area). I'm also in Southern AZ though, so there are a lot of people switching to 100% solar systems. The thing about these though is that you can stay connected to the grid for something like $10/mo so if you produce more power than you can store and use, it goes into the grid; and if you use more power then you pull from that "banked" amount you've provided. That $10/mo is definitely more than enough to cover your "part" of the grid maintenance. If you want to disconnect from the grid entirely, then you can, you then aren't responsible for any maintenance for a service you don't use (tell that to the utilities).

Hopefully sprint will get off this salesforce/ cold calling s**t they have been pushing the last year or so that we all hate.

Salesforce was being pushed when I first was hired back in 2007, it's nothing new (although your local or area management may have been pushing it). An advantage I had though was in my state (AZ) we weren't allowed to utilize it (unsure the exact reasons, I'm assuming something about state laws against it).

Instead our management made us go back through our last 2 years worth of our store's assisted customers to call back about new promotions and such as they were upgrade eligible. This had to be done manually, no automated system at all. Search Back Office for sales from last 2 years, get spreadsheet, look up account for offers and options, call them; one by one.

That's a lot considering a remote control for a tv uses less than one watt, only when you press the button too...

 

“If left unchanged and all Xbox 360 models are replaced by Xbox One consoles, this one feature will be responsible for $400 million in annual electricity bills and the equivalent annual output of a large, 750-megawatt power plant–and its associated pollution.”

 

my wife told me one unit at their plant(unit 5) is a 900 megawatt. Her plant produces ten percent of the power for the state of Alabama. (Also, unit 5 is considered super critical). Just for reference on power production and how generation works.

 

Sent from my LG-LS980 using Tapatalk

So what you're saying is the electrical grid in our country is woefully over-subscribed, nearly on the brink of collapse, and easily disturbed if someone wanted to. The same things that hundreds of people have been warning us about for years (especially since the northeast blackout back in 2003) and the power companies have done little to alleviate the vulnerabilities in the system.

Maybe that's because the xbox is "always on"? Which means, even in stand-by mode, it's using pretty much just as much power as it uses when in use.

 

-Anthony

It doesn't though. With Instant-On enabled it uses 15W while "off" waiting for the voice command, and keeping the system in a sleep mode for a faster startup (That's really all it is, it's a sleep mode like your computer). Actually off in standby mode (controller will turn it on, but not "Xbox On") it uses <1W.

I've never dropped either of my g2's. Strange.

I've dropped mine several times (hard enough for the case to come off most of them), and I've had no GPS issues with my G2 personally.

This is why I'm more inclined to believe the issue is hardware and related to the contact point with the antenna rather than an issue with software, etc.

If it was the software, then most/all of the phones would have the issue. There were reports of GPS issues before KitKat and reports after KitKat. My phone overall is more stable all around after the KitKat update personally.

Looking back through my Cerberus logs I don't see any erroneous data points before or after the update, going back to October either. There's a few points slightly off of where I was likely to be at then, but they are all within about 100m of my actual location (meaning I didn't have a GPS lock at the time and it was triangulated instead). Since I don't have my GPS locked on all of the time that's not unusual. Every time I've tried to use a GPS app it works fine.

I tried that fix a few weeks ago. I put little folded squares of a post-it note behind the contacts on the battery cover. Maybe it wasn't thick enough to make a solid contact (that's what she said). I haven't tried bending the actual contacts on the board of the phone. I shouldn't have to rig brass contacts to get gps to work. That seems like such a massive production fail. When I got my replacement unit, the gps was working great for a day, now nothing. Maybe it's software related. The guy at Sprint told me it's in their system that kitkat broke the gps on the g2. He also blamed an incomplete spark network for my location issues. I'll try bending the board contacts when I get home. I really want to daily drive this phone because of band 41, but it's amazing how you realize how much you need location services working when you're out and about on the weekend, and not having them is bad.

MAybe a production fail, maybe something caused by a drop or other hard contact. I was seeing posts about poor GPS performance here, yet I never saw an LG G2 come into my store (Top 100 S&R store) for a GPS issue while I was working there.

I just can't figure out what is wrong with the GPS on this phone. I just got a replacement from Sprint, and I still can never get a lock. I'm in Chicago, and my weatherbug thought I was in Kansas. That's messed up.

 

 

Sent from my LG-LS980

If you're a bit adventurous you can try and fix it yourself...

MAny phones now (the G2 included) have the GPS antenna in the rear housing. You can pop the rear housing off the phone and use a small tool to "pull" up the springs that are on the board itself. These contact springs touch the antenna contacts on the housing, if they don't make good contact you get poor performance. They look like this (this is a Verizon G2 that has different contact points and layout):

This is the rear housing of the Sprint LS980, and the contact points it has...

There may be more than this, I can't quite remember how many there are, or which ones are GPS specifically since it's been awhile.

Many (most) phones do this now, and occasionally some devices the contact points won't be sticking far enough out from the board to make good contact. This can also happen after a phone is dropped, the contact points may get pushed in a bit.

There isn't much risk of destroying anything as long as you're careful and don't pull too hard. I used to do this "fix" all the time as a technician, fixed the GPS issues 9/10 times.

So this is a thing now...

 

It showed up in my inbox yesterday. How long has this been happening? It's pretty cool that they can tell that I spend 3/4 of my life parked on one tower.

The Top Tower tool was just being rolled out in retail in March shortly before I was laid off. It allowed reps to see the top 5 towers you use, the dates the 3G 1900 upgrades were scheduled for or completed, and had an option to notify the customer when their towers were upgraded. So I'd assume the system itself was in development and testing several months before that. Much like how Service Trender is not being integrated into Sprint Zone for ticket notifications.

Just like when the Wii came out, Kinect was cute for a few months and that's it. I have never seen my son use the Kinect on his Xbox One at all.

I use my Kinect every day, but not for games. I use the voice commands almost exclusively (my phone as the remote if I don't want to talk since it has an IR blaster), it logs me in automatically (4 people in the house use the box so no auto-login), it turns off the controller automatically when I set it down for a couple minutes to watch a movie, go to the bathroom, etc. and that saves battery life.

I hardly use it for any sort of gaming functions, but it's dramatically changed the way I use the Xbox and how I watch TV and movies. I couldn't imagine using my One without the Kinect to be honest. But that's just how I use the box. A kid may not use any of those voice features and just want to play a game, in that case Kinect isn't really needed in most cases.

I found this neat and it goes with the 5% discussion. I guess at least the top 5 percent is not close to wired top 5% average 328GB per month.

 

http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2014/05/watch-out-for-data-caps-video-hungry-cord-cutters-use-328gb-a-month/

 

I used 648GB last month according to my router logs, 555GB in March, 396GB in February, 480GB in January, 272GB in December, 210GB in November, 410GB in October, 237GB in September, 135GB in August, 188GB in July, 58GB in June, and 77GB in May. The numbers include combined up/down throughput, and I do not torrent files very often, which can dramatically increase usage as we know.

My household usage is going up by about 50-100GB per month. Our usage for the most part has been pretty consistent for the last year. Starting March of last year one roommate began working from home, and we had our speeds increased and Comcast Business Class installed. Now that it has been a year, I find it interesting to go back through and look at our usage increase. In January we had one of my friends and his mother move in since they had a falling out with family and needed a place to stay, they are waiting on disability and SSI to be approved, and we have the room. His mother spends most of the day online since she is disabled and can't do much else, so this explains a spike starting then. In March I also was laid off and so I've been home more overall, online and such, which is likely related to our increase since then. We are not cord cutters, but we do use Netflix and HBO GO quite a bit in addition to the TV itself.

If my household usage is going up by this much every month without us actually changing the way we are doing things, think of the average person that doesn't care or pay any attention at all. Many people treat their mobile device as just an extension of their home connection, or as a substitute for a bad home connection in some cases.

My home usage is going up seemingly on its own even across months that we haven't made any significant changes in what we are using it for. Imagine if you move my usage across to a mobile network at a fraction of the overall usage, let's say if we took 1% of my home data usage and made it mobile instead. We'd be looking at 6.48GB last month, 5.55GB in March, 3.96GB in February, 4.8GB in January, 2.72GB in December, 2.1GB in November, 4.1GB in October, 2.37GB in September, 1.35GB in August, 1.88GB in July, 5.8GB in June, and 7.7GB in May. Now, this is just 1% of my overall household data usage, but it adds up very quickly and is fairly inconsistent month-to-month.

I am knowledgeable of what uses data, and recognize issues with congestion, but even with that knowledge I can't even account for my household usage accurately. Now, think of the average person.

<response serviceTrenderStatus="Success" serviceTrenderMessage="Sprint is seeing indications that your device could be impacting your voice experience. Please verify that your Software and PRL are both up to date by using the Voice Network Details section below. If additional support is needed, please visit your local Sprint store for assistance (message 213)." serviceTrenderCode="213" nebStatus="Success"/>

 

Can someone help with what this means? Device in question is up to date with software and PRL...

It is basically saying that the algorithms have determined your experience is sub-par and there aren't any known network deficiencies in the area to account for it. Assuming everything is up to date (as new PRLs and software upgrades can fix issues), they suggest taking it into an store (it doesn't specify S&R, but otherwise they likely can't do anything to fix it) to have it checked.

So you can imagine it including the ability to ignore scan timer?

Yeah, not really a good way to phrase that.

I don't know the specifics about the Connection Optimizer on the LTE devices, the training I had for it was released before LTE was widespread so it was aimed at WiMax and 3G devices. However, based on what I do know, I imagine the Connection Optimizer has the ability to ignore the built-in LTE scan timer that all of the LTE devices have. This would allow it to directly control the LTE scan of the phone when it knows you are in an area you've had an LTE signal previously. So since we already know that the SCO can turn on/off WiFi and scans based on location info (GPS, AGPS, etc.) it makes sense that it would use that same data to force an LTE scan in areas it knows you've had LTE previously.

The phones don't constantly look for an LTE signal. When they are on 3G, they have a timer that determines how long until it scans for an LTE signal again. It varies by device, and can be adjusted temporarily depending on the circumstances. So say for instance the phone normally scans every 30 minutes for an LTE signal. If you have an LTE signal and lose it, the phone may instead scan again after 60 seconds (just in case it was an interference issue that caused the drop and you're back in range). If it fails to find a signal, it may extend that scan out to 5 minutes, then again to 15, and finally back to the base 30 minute interval. The intention is to optimize battery life versus keeping you on 4G as often as possible. A constant 4G scan would end up wasting your battery just like WiFi, Bluetooth, or WiMax scanning will. So they get around this by letting you have 4G enabled, and just occasionally scanning, using as little battery throughout the day as possible. In the real world, this system results in virtually no battery life difference by having LTE enabled versus leaving the phone in a 3G-only mode.

Not sure where this fits best to ask, but I'll ask it here as it seems relevant to the Spark network specifically, other threads were dead in 2012 before LTE was available/widespread.

 

Does the "Sprint Connections Optimizer" (that is put on all Android phones) have anything to do with remembering LTE towers and/or reconnecting to those towers faster if turned on (on Spark/NV 1.0/NV 2.0 LTE towers)?

 

I understand its goal was originally to help people connect to WiFi networks, but it also helped WiMax connections by toggling fauxG on.  So I never used it as it was most likely a battery drainer that was unnecessary as I leave WiFi on all the time.  BUT, with Triband phones....I was curious if anyone knew if it helped with the LTE connections by remembering areas that have live LTE.  I've been running it a few days on and a few days off and perhaps see my LTE connection come back faster with SCO enabled.  This could also be due to on going work in my area that might fluctuate my signals.  Just curious if/what experience others had.

The training information I remember did say it remembers 4G towers (it did not specify WiMax or LTE) to automatically turn on/off 4G when in range. This leads me to believe it was referencing WiMax however...

That being said, I can't imagine it not including the ability to ignore the LTE scan timer and instead to scan immediately when in range of a remembered tower.

I just picked up a G2 and Sprint gave me a free sim.  Apparently you need a spark enabled sim, as the first store I went to couldn't get the standard sim to work.  Go to a Sprint store with service technicians and they will give it to you for free.

 

I'm in Houston too.  I went to the Willowbrook location next to Buffalo Wild Wings.

http://s4gru.com/index.php?/topic/4845-uicc-compatibility-matrix/

The UICC Compatibility Matrix shows what card works in what phones ,and includes the orderable UPC for the corporate Sprint retail system. Third Party, online, etc may use the other corresponding numbers instead.

Just thought I'd share: I was having problems with my gps, and began to research a fix. I came across an article, and subsequently a video explaining that the gps contacts on the battery cover don't make good contact with the phone. It fixed my problem, and I get a 10+ satellite lock now in less than 3 seconds, even indoors.

 

Here's the link:

 

(don't worry, the title of the video is foreign, but there is no audio in the video)

This can be a fairly common issue with any device that uses a spring-type connection to a GPS antenna in the rear housing (most phones now). I saw it about 2x per week when I was a tech in the store. Pressing really hard on the contact on the back cover or dropping a device can cause that connection to bend slightly away from the housing, so it doesn't make a good connection anymore, reducing performance drastically.

I don't know of anyone with an N5. I like the g2 and I would have got the nexus of it wasn't for knock on and the ir blaster. Is there any way to change the threshold of when it connects to 1x 800? I think if that was fixed id be OK with it for awhile. I bet the nexus would work at my desk because I get a faint LTE right outside my door. I just want to stream all access all day long! I've been waiting for 800 LTE for 2 years and dang, what a disappointment. Also I've had this thing plugged into a 1amp charger pretty much all day since 6 and it only went from 10% to 80% now. Charger problem?

A 1AMP charger is actually really weak now. I believe the charger that comes with the G2 and N5 is 1.8AMP and most Samsung devices now come with 2AMP+ chargers. I have a handful of 2.0 AMP chargers laying around specifically because they can provide the power required to both charge and use a device at the same time.

The LG G2 has a 3,000mAh battery, so a 1AMP charger would charge it from dead to full in 3 hours (if the phone was off). Since you likely keep your phone on however, that uses some of the battery while it is charging. Lower signal reception will use more battery, long data sessions will use more battery, any apps that stay running and prevent the phone from entering a sleep state will use more battery, even if the screen is off, just to name a few things.

10-80% charge would be a 70% increase, thus 2,100mA that has gone to the battery. In 6 hours a 1AMP charger would have pushed through 6,000mA, so that means your device used up 3,900mA doing something in that timeframe. Screen on, constant data connections, not sleeping, etc.

I'd recommend installing an app that looks at what specific apps are doing with wakelocks, etc. to determine where your root cause is, the built-in Android stuff gives general ideas, but nothing specific. I use BetterBatteryStats personally, it's complex, but if you read a guide first it's amazingly powerful.

Ticket level is listed as "market" in this one though. I've seen this ticket before (it appears and disappears) and I'm exclusively in the Pittsburgh market...

I can guarantee you that the "ticket level" indicator means very little in Service Trender info. Ericsson doesn't really have the ticketing system together very well on the back end, and it offers very little to front line reps. Glance on the other hand has full transcripts of issues and solutions, but few reps are properly trained on all of its uses (and in retail, there is no training at all, and only Leads and above can access it, not even techs).

This popped in my Google play store requesting an update. Can someone explain or confirm this as sprint software? uploadfromtaptalk1398803416692.jpg

 

Sent from my LG-LS980 using Tapatalk

It is most likely a background APK used by one of the built-in feature testing apps accessed from the dialer codes.

Thank you, guys. I'm guessing having the phone rooted will make the technician just hand it back to me and say "sorry," right?

 

Sent from my Nexus 5

Having a rooted device does not negate any device coverage. Sprint's official policy is that rooted devices are worked on.

Custom ROMs however are not covered in store. There is no way to reliably say that a custom ROM did not adversely affect the phone in some way to cause the issue (unlikely, but impossible to prove so policy is built without making techs make that decision). That doesn't mean you won't get a tech that is willing to bend the rule if it is obvious it's not related, but expect issues if you aren't running the latest official software.

This is almost exactly what I just said. Just more specific. No part of what I said was false at all.

The store is not required to give a replacement device. That was where you were incorrect.

Being a technician in a store I can't tell you how many times we had people come in demanding a replacement for issues with their device that either did not exist (network issues primarily), issues that were caused by third-party apps (most of them), an issue that was repairable (not requiring a replacement), or a phone that was damaged in some way that negated our ability to work on them (primarily physical or liquid damage). A store is not required to replace a device, and I see it  get posted all over the internet that they are required to.

The technicians have nearly full control over whether a device gets repaired, replaced, or sent to insurance based on many different criteria, and doing so simply at a customer's request or demand is not on that list.

Perhaps I'm a little jaded after 7 years of working in wireless retail sales and support (I did both), but it is extremely helpful when a customer comes in with realistic expectations, not an inflated sense of what will happen based on a poorly worded sentence. These types of statements are the ones that some people take as fact, when they aren't and cling to when told otherwise.

I know it's not the way you intended it, but without it being clarified there likely would be someone that would take it as face value and cause an issue in a retail store at some point in the future, something that is easily corrected with proper information.

These things in Sprint Zone only show up intermittently, which is odd. For example the following, only shows up for a friend's number, although we are both in the same market and I'm definitely having the problem too: Also, statusUpdateDateTime

remains the same even though there clearly has been a change...

Service Alerts show up automatically only for numbers that are directly affected. I.E. the tower is a top 5 tower used by the number, or the issue is Market-wide. a Care or TS agent can look up other specific alerts opened, but the output Service Trender uses in Sprint Zone only automatically pulls up the ones directly affecting the top used towers.

TEP is total equipment protection which means you are covered for repairs and also exchanges. If the store cannot fix it they have to exchange it. If the store is a Corp store they have the option to swap for the same device if they have one that someone else never picked up. They don't just keep them on hand.

 

Also without tep an exchange/repair would cost $75. Your warranty is through the manufacturer not through the carrier.

 

Save yourself the trip to the store and do a hard reset and see if it helps. If not then let the store have at it.

This is not entirely true.

If it is something that is covered by ESRP, the store will repair the device if possible, or order a replacement. Sometimes, they will have a replacement on hand. Ordered replacements arrive within 3-4 days (usually 2-3). This is limited to 2 free claims per year I believe before there is a deductible of $25 per incident for future claims. Without TEP/ESRP there is a $75 fee for repair/exchange.

If it is something that falls under the ERP portion of the TEP coverage (cracked screen, liquid damage, etc.), you must go through Asurion with the $100+ deductible.

If there is anything on the device that would cause it to fall under ERP instead of the in-store coverage (even if your issue isn't related) you must go through Asurion.

Hi all, nice to have found this site.. I have a question, My phone is a Samsung Galaxy Note 2 on the Sprint network. I have heard a awful lot about us not really getting what we pay for, as far as service goes.. I do get a lot of dropped calls, plus complaints from people, who call me and claim I never answer. But in fact lots of times my phone when on a call will not let me know when another call is coming in. Sometimes it does. I of course do not know if this is a phone issue, or a network issue..

 

 

I do have a custom rom, but it is basically a stock version.. This issue happens no matter what rom I use, even pure stock.. I travel up and down the I-35 corridor daily from Texas through Oklahoma and according to what I have seen on web Sprint does have lots of towers in this area. But my droped calls are enormous. My biggest question is how to determine if the problem with my phone call is a phone issue, or a network issue.. 2) which PRL is considered a better deal for my phone.. The stock PRL I believe 25015 stinks big time.. I am a truck driver, and use my phone all day long, and need to have the ability to make and receive call, with less issues than I currently have..

 

It seems every time I up grade my phone, sprint tells me that you will get better service, with fewer drop call..BS...Thanks 

The Galaxy Note 2 has an issue with maintaining proper connections to 800MHz signals in some markets (this was discovered after launch as 800MHz signals went online), unlike other devices. Since the network cannot send specific PRLS to specific areas, and it would adversely effect you if you travelled to these areas with a standard PRL, these devices have a customer PRL series until a solution can be found (if one ever is). The I-35 corridor (as with most of the country) is getting 800MHz service, but your phone will not connect to it due to this limitation.

Check the current PRL you have on the phone. It should be PRL 2011 for the Note II. The standard current PRLs for other devices are 21100 or 25018 (depending on device type). These PRLs allow 800MHz, but may cause dropped call issues on the Note II.

The reason I mention this is that while nearly any other current Sprint device would be able to use this signal to dramatically increase call reception, this particular device can't due to that issue, even though the antenna inside can.

I also use Google Voice integration and am very curious as to whether making or receiving calls through this service causes a loss of HD voice quality in a similar fashion to if calling a phone on a different network. It would seem as if this would be the case, since all the calls are routed through a separate service, but it could also be set up such that Google has purposely included the ability for wideband audio to pass through uninhibited. Unfortunately, I don't have the capacity to test because I don't know many other Sprint users. If anyone does get the chance to see if HD Voice works through a Google Voice call, I'd love to hear about it.

I've seen the EVRC_NW codec show up on my phone, and I've been GV integrated since it became available (GV user before that as well). I rarely make calls though, so I haven't noticed an improvement personally.