rwhittaker13

Framily is not dead, you just have to jump on someone's plan.

Exactly.. Which if you can grab yourself a framily ID, then you can still hop into someone's family. It wasn't too bad at all, but ive had some customers complain about the plan, while others loved it. People were very mixed about it. Majority of people that go into our store go on the family share pack.

Are they no longer offering the double your data promotion on the the Family Share Pack? I know I'm getting 40GB for 100 bucks, plus $15 per phone line and $10 per tablet (tethering inc.).

As far as I know, nobody has told us different. Our DM usually keeps us up to date on those things.

This is the only problem with long posts xD lol

Well, It has been awhile since i`ve been on here! Hello everyone! Im sure all of you are saving those upgrades for the holiday season, so this guide will greatly help you in the event that you decide to upgrade to that phablet you have always wanted! Listed below are a summary of some of the plans that sprint offers. Enjoy and i hope this helps some of the new members of the site, as well as guests.

 

UNLIMITED ONLY PLAN:

This plan was designed only for individuals in mind, but also gives you quite a good deal. This plan gives you unlimited talk, text and data for just $60/Month. There is one catch however, it can only be used on the sprint EasyPay program.

 

 

THE SPRINT SIMPLY UNLIMITED PLAN:

DESCRIPTION: The iPhone for life plan is a plan that was designed for the iPhone users in mind. This plan allows qualified buyers to LEASE an iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 plus for 20 Dollars per month. Whats even better you may ask?? The other half of the whole sweat deal, the simply unlimited plan! This plan is combined with the iPhone for life plan, which gives you unlimited talk, text and data for 50 Dollars a month. Now of course, the 20 dollars is tied into this plan, which puts it at 70 dollars a month.. (Before those lovely taxes that we all love...*Sarcasm*) Ahem, anyways, back to the main topic.. But wait, theres a better side to this as well. Well qualified buyers (Depends on the number of lines they are approved for. Customer must also not have a spending limit for this to be accurate.)can leave the store without having to pay a single dime out the door! Now, thats a sweet deal. Below i will list the different lease prices for the different iPhone models:

 

iPhone 6 (16GB): $20/Month

iPhone 6 (64GB): $25/Month

iPhone 6 (128GB): $30/Month

 

iPhone 6 Plus (16GB): $25/Month

iPhone 6 Plus (64GB): $30/Month

iPhone 6 Plus (128GB): $35/Month

 

If you have an account spending limit(Hint hint, ask the sales rep if you do or not), an additional down payment will be needed to lease the phone.

 

 

SPRINT EASY PAY PROGRAM:

It means exactly how it sounds, customers now have the option to make monthly payments on their phones. Yes, you are paying the full retail price of the phones, but dont blame the reps(Such as me (;      ) With this payment plan, you will no longer have a contract with sprint. If you do not like the service, or if there is some other dissatisfaction, you can cancel you account with no ETF fees. The only fees you would have to pay is the remaining balance on your phone. Now, this plan gives customers more options to get that hot new hunk of technology they have always wanted, but, as to every plan, there are some hidden catches that you should know about:

 

1: Sales tax is due out the door on installment billing plans (Usually ranges around $39, but it really depends on the device. )

 

2: If you have an account spending limit(Again, ask the sales rep if you do), you will have to make an additional down payment to use the EasyPay program. This additional down payment needed is based on credit, also ensuring sprint that you will indeed be able to make the monthly payments on the phone. The amount of the down payment depends on the spending limit:

 

$150 Spending limit: The highest down payment (usually over $150)

$300 Spending limit: Average down payment(around $100-$150)

And so on and so on....

 

 

UNLIMITED MY WAY PLAN:

Again, having the same meaning as the title, this plan gives you unlimited talk, text and TRULY UNLIMITED DATA. Of course, i used caps lock for a reason on that last part.. Sprint will not throttle your data, regardless of how many football games you stream at the bar, or all the youtube videos of people failing, there isnt a limit to what you can do! Exciting right?? Thats why i got it!! Now, here are the pricing details you need to know:

 

FOR ONE DEVICE:(Smartphones Only!)

Unlimited talk, text: $50/Month

Unlimited data: $30/Month

1GB Data: $20/Month

 

ONE DEVICE: (Basic Phones)

Unlimited talk, text: $50/Month

Unlimited basic phone data: $10/Month

No data: Zero (Of course)

 

TWO DEVICES:

Now, on this plan, things kinda go in sequence. To add a second line, it costs $40 dollars for the unlimited talk and text. For the data, its the same $30 for unlimited data, and $20 for 1GB of data.(This is assuming you have a smartphone)

 

If you have a basic phone, it will still be the same for everything, except for the data portion. Unlimited data for a basic phone costs $10.

Here are some different combinations of the plans (So many people ask me this when they come into the store, i just felt the need to put this out there so there is little confusion)

 

1: Two smartphones with unlimited talk, text and data: $150/Month

2:Two basic phones with unlimited talk, text and data: $110/Month

 

The rest of the details are in the flyer that is located at every sprint store. If i talked about every different combination, id be here for hours.(Does anyone remember the good old days in math class when you had to guess how many different combinations you can make?? This is what i mean lol.

 

Also, another helpful tip, this plan can be used with a 2/Yr contract, or the sprint EasyPay program. THIS PLAN CAN NOT BE USED WITH THE LEASE PROGRAM AS YOU WILL GET PENALTY CHARGES.

 

 

FAMILY SHARE PACK:

One of the best plans for customers that are looking to add more than two devices to their account, this plan gives you unlimited talk, text and 20GB of data for $100/Month. Now of course, there are some catches to this plan:

 

1: This plan was only meant for the Sprint EasyPay program. If you add a device to this plan that is under a 2/Yr contract, you will see penalty fees of $40 per line, and thats a christmas bonus that takes your money instead of giving it to you, so please be careful when selecting this plan, since not all sales reps understand this yet. Print this guide out even, if you must. It may save you a big headache in the future.

 

2: Usually, there is a $15 Dollar access fee per line on this plan, but there is a way to avoid this access fee. If you port all of your numbers in from a different carrier, AND you go with the 20GB data option, or higher, those $15 access fees are WAIVED until 1/01/2016.

 

3: There are different, and lower data options as well, but avoid the lower data options!! If you select a data option that is lower than 20GB, you will get a $25 dollar access fee tacked onto your bill, regardless if you ported your numbers or not..

 

 

FAMILY UNLIMITED TALK, TEXT AND DATA FOR TWO LINES, $100:

A plan that sprint just created, but took down shortly after, is now back, and in my opinion, a fantastic deal! Designed for customers that are only looking to add two devices to their account, but still be able to surf the web all they want, you get unlimted talk, text and data for $100/Month. But wait, just when you thought the catches were over, there is more!

 

1: Just like the family share pack, This plan was designed for the sprint EasyPay program, but with more options than that. You can also use this plan with the leasing program, pay full SRP, or bring your own device!

 

2: 3-10 lines are $40/Month per line

 

 

THE CUT YOU BILL IN HALF EVENT:

When sprint created this plan, it created headwaves very quickly, and is by far one of the best deals you can come across. Here`s how this plan works: You bring sprint your bill from the previous carrier, and they will give you unlimited talk, text and they will match the amount of data you had, for half the cost. With this plan, there are two catches you should know about:

 

1: You must give your AT&T or Verizon handset to sprint. If you sign up for this in-store, you would hand the phone(s) to the rep.

 

2: You must have some sort of data plan with the other carrier. If you dont, you would not be eligible for this plan.

 

And if you were wondering, yes, you can use this plan with a 2/Yr upgrade, or on the EasyPay program.

 

So everyone, i hope this nice little plan guide will help everyone out this year. If needed, print this out and take it to the store with you. Trust me, it will save you a lot of time.. Well everyone, merry christmas! Lets not overcook the christmas turkey, or drink too much. Be safe, be responsible, and best of all, spend it with your families!

 

Another note: Whoops, i forgot a plan.. There are too

I am excited to see more LTE coverage! Ive been in new kensington lately and ive been having a weak 4G connection there. And it seems as cranberry now has 4G, so im hoping to see LTE move up closer to butler in the distant future. 

I'd like to see if anyone can answer this also. I'm seeing it a lot more lately. It's like the service is rapidly resetting itself. 

It could be the phone itself. Depending on the signal strength, the phone may see that the 1X network has a better signal to the device then CDMA, so that could cause the phone to connect to 1X periodically over CDMA. If that isnt the case, my best guess would be possibly tower upgrades in your area. Not sure on that one but some sprint phones are very picky when it comes down to the priority of different networks (Sometimes phones will search for 1X first before 3G, or some phones will search for LTE, then EVDO if LTE isnt available, then down to 1X.) It all really depends on the type of phone you have. This is why the Evo LTE had problems staying connected to LTE at first. The phone had a signal threshold on LTE that caused the phone to search for a different network, even when LTE signal strength was fairly strong.(From my guess, the evo had a threshold of anything higher than -115dBm, it would disconnect and search for something else.) Dont quote me on that, not entirely sure.

That's the problem around here. AT&T has a large HSPA+ network with 3G or less speeds. They desperately need upgraded backhaul. They even still have a lot of EDGE coverage in Northern New Mexico. Even Tmo has the same problem. The HSPA+ in my town on Tmo runs under 1Mbps, and will drop to 200kbps at peak times. People bitch about Sprint 3G running like that. Can you imagine 4G with those speeds?

 

Robert via Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

More than likely if a customer saw that 4G speeds suffered just because of a lack of upgraded backhaul, im sure they wouldnt be very happy. I mean in some areas, AT&T keeps up with adding upgraded backhaul to sites. Others, just have never been upgraded yet. And yes if an LTE network was not properly backhauled, the speeds would be more comparable to "3G" standards.

NOTE: This thread was closed by the S4GRU Admin. The content of the post below is one members interpretation of backhaul, and not how S4GRU would describe backhaul. The post should be treated as an opinion and not as fact.

 

Alright so this thread is for any new users to the site who do not already know what "Backhaul" means, which im sure a good bit of you have already heard of this lol.

 

WHAT IS BACKHAUL?

 

Backhaul is one factor in how fast data speeds can be on a mobile network. Backhaul means sending data over an "out of the way" route, usually meaning to allow data to travel quicker or for less expensive data transfer costs. Think of it as a backchannel to a network. With data flowing more freely, the speeds for other network users will remain constant and uninterrupted, even under heavy data traffic.

 

HOW IS BACKHAUL ACHIEVED?

 

Backhaul is usually achieved by installing fiber optic cables to the cell site. Fiber optics tend to be a better electrical transmitter than standard cable setups. On towers, singlemode and multimode fiber appear mostly in tower setups. Usually as well, singlemode fiber carries more bandwith than multimode fiber connections can. So what does this mean? It means that backhaul has some quite technical aspects. Many think that backhaul is just a simple cable swap, but in reality, the technology behind backhauling a mobile network is very extensive. Not only is this good for the company, but it is also good for the users who demand better network efficiency, as well as faster, more constant data speeds. Also, just as a sidenote, backhaul is a huge factor on LTE networks. I will put this as simple as possible: If an LTE network is deployed without the appropriate backhaul upgrades, the network will crawl, especially under heavy data traffic. The same applies to backhauled 3G networks (Known as HSPA+), which is one of the reasons why AT&T and T-Mobiles HSPA+ networks suffer with such terrible data speeds in some areas.

 

3G upgrade doesn't mean that it's connected to new backhaul yet

Exactly right! For instance, when AT&T advertises their HSPA+ "4G" network, they make it seem as their entire 3G footprint has HSPA+ speeds, when in all reality that is not true. Sure maybe they may have the updated equipment installed on the majority of their network, but the enhanced backhaul is what mainly delivers the faster speeds AT&T brags about. Same with sprint. When 3G upgrades are taking place, backhaul may not yet be installed.

I've seen this in the Philly market as well. It will show LTE for an instant then drop back to 3G. Blocked for the time being.

Can be annoying at times. Especially when you have sensorly mapping a trip, anticipating it to map a new area with LTE, then nothing. lol. Good thing is my 3G speeds are improving as well.

4g still in and out Moon twp. I was able to find a few more spots in Moon that I mapped via Sensorly. Download has been between 3-5 with upload between 2-3 mb. Makes me wonder why they lit up Moon township before downtown Pittsburgh. I'm not complaining, I work in Moon. Its just wimax was not existent in Moon. Perhaps the proximity of the airport was a deciding factor. I also noticed Sewickley is mapped now.

I think sprint blocked any users in Butler from connecting to LTE. I went to the sprint store, and well courtesy of a few freinds of mine that worked there, i downloaded the signal check lite app on the Galaxy S III, and the Viper 4GLTE. Both phones at first didnt pick up anything until after i turned airplane mode on and off. After that both devices showed a LTE signal on the app, but neither of them would actually connect to it. Ever since then, i havent found a LTE signal anymore in butler. Maybe testing?

<br /><br />Good luck hope you get some soon by the way is that by goat ropers

Near ghost riders actually on Route 8.

Wow, the markets in and around Pittsburgh are just lighting up! This is very impressive!

For anyone that knows where butler is and wants specifics, I found the LTE signal on Route 8 between the Unionville fire department and the pioneer drive in

This is great news! But why wouldn't Sprint announce it? I'm sure people have left Sprint because of the absence of an LTE implementation schedule in Pittsburgh? I, for one, considered going back to Verizon in May when my contract is up because of it.

Because there is not enough coverage to cover the whole city and Sprint has just started work in the market so each week more and more sites will be coming online. If Sprint where to say Pittsburgh had LTE now people would complain that theres not enough coverage, so Sprint, once accepted will leave the site on for people to use it instead of waiting a couple of months to launch the whole market.

There isn't even a date for Pittsburgh. If LTE construction has started, there must be a targeted completion date. http://s4gru.com/ind...t-running-list/ lists the markets and what round they are in for every major city in the US except Pittsburgh (and Denver). The % completion and estimated completion dates for the markets on this page are periodically updated. Pittsburgh is not even on the horizon!

pittsburgh never got stated by sprint so it wont be on the running list

 

get it mapped im kinda geeked over this lol

Thanks guys. Hopefully this keeps building. Would love to see wider coverage.

I can confirm that I did find an LTE signal in Butler, PA using the signal check lite app. LTE was showing up at -120dBm so it was too low of a signal to connect. My phone has been acting weird all day. At times I would not get any service. Then it would only connect to EVDO and then eHRPD. When I got home today I noticed when I turned my phone screen on that the 4G symbol was there but no bars and then it went back to eHRPD. I will try to map it tomorrow if I can pick it up. I will also get some screenshots to prove my findings.

This morning, coming off of my airrave in Hawaii, I couldn't get any data, restarted my phone still no data. Switched from CDMA/LTE to CDMA and got data. Just switched it back and it says I'm connected to eHRPD but there's no connection. In the debug it shows under eHRPD engineering that I need to fix APN list. At least there's some progress here in Hawaii for network vision, hopefully rollout is soon

Dont worry, once sprint completes the 3G upgrades in your area, LTE should arrive quickly after. The process that takes longer is replacing the older CDMA equipment with new CDMA equipment. You should see your 3G speeds get better and better over time. So the good thing here is you will have more acceptiable 3G speeds until LTE arrives. Good luck and i hope you catch some LTE soon!

I have heard from one of my friends that Chester, PA has had LTE for a week now.

Erie isn't too far away from me. Maybe 2-3 hours tops. I live in Butler, PA. Any word on updates in this area?

++ Man. Great story !

Thank you! I will have more stories like this one as I learn more

History lesson time! This could be helpful to anyone new to this site, or new to cell phone technology, as well as mobile networks.

 

Origin of cell phone towers:

 

Well, cell towers didnt become widely available until the 1990`s in the U.S, as after this time period, more and more people began to use cell phones, which led to more cell towers being deployed around communities, cities, and eventually, almost everywhere in the United States. Imagine how it used to be. Stuck on landline phones, and not having a way to contact others while you were away from home. Now, cell phones and cell phone towers are literally the backbone of our society. We use towers to connect our cell phones to mobile data networks that allow us to surf the web, send e-mails, watch videos, and more. But still, how does a cell tower work exactly?

 

The Basics:

 

Cell phone towers can take up different forms, or styles. Some could be free standing towers, or some could be placed on standing structures such as buildings(usually taller buildings), and other taller objects. (Keep in mind that most base stations are usually between 50-200 Feet tall). Towers and cell phones communicate with each other mainly through RF (Radio Frequency) waves. When a call is placed on a cell phone, the signal from the phone is directed to the closest base station antenna. From this point, the base station sets the available RF frequency channel to the signal. The signal is then sent to a switching center, which then transfers the call to the appropriate person, or place you are calling. Signals are constantly transfered back and fourth from the cell tower, to the mobile phone as the call is active. Much more simple than you would think right?

 

Today`s faster networks:

 

Technology has really advanced as time went on. We went from compact cell phones that weighed over 3 pounds, to sleek, thin, light devices that sometimes run all day on a single charge, or phones that have HD screens, HD video, and even HD voice. (A lot of HD now a days.) Carriers have now been deploying their new 4G LTE Networks around the nation so customers can enjoy a faster mobile data experience on their devices. Sprint was one of the companies to introduce a 4G service to their customers. Running the WIMAX standard of 4G shortly after May 7, 2008 when they announced the merger of their WIMAX network with clearwire. That was the first form of 4G found in the U.S. A few years later, companies started deploying LTE (Long Term Evolution) networks across the country. Verizon being one of the first to do so. AT&T shortly followed verizon, but AT&T took an extra step and deployed HSPA+(Known as 3.5G, but AT&T called it 4G). HSPA+ speeds were achieved by installing enhanced backhaul to thier sites, drastically boosting data speeds. Not quite as fast as LTE, but more similar to WIMAX speeds, this put AT&T behind the LTE race. After AT&T started their LTE rollout, Sprint announced in late 2012 that they would start offering LTE to their customers, and they expected the rollout of their LTE network to mainly be completed by sometime in 2014. Despite this newer, faster mobile networking technology, the cell phone system still relies on the standard way of sending and recieving data from cell phone to cell tower. The point of this is: The same technology that was pioneered back in the 1990`s has stil affected how our cell phones work to this very day.

When will pittsburgh pa get network vision?

That is entirely dependent on sprint, as well as samsung, as they are the vendors who will be controlling the pittsburgh market. From my guess, sprint has been working on certain sites in Cranberry, PA. This tells me that sprint will be going for the rural areas first. Once LTE is active in areas surrounding Pittsburgh, you should start to see NV/LTE upgrades sometime after that. As far as an ETA time for this to happen, id say within this year sometime. Sorry i could not be more specific with the time, but im not entirely sure myself as to when NV deployment will start in Pittsburgh.. Hope this helped you out a bit!

 

Thanks for that info and i have noticed that the ping has gone from 150 average to about 250-500 sometimes it even goes to 1000 on the ping, i noticed that on December of last year they added a small set of antennas, but i think this has made my speeds go down because this tower is rarely packed and speed just go way down to .05mbs when they use to always be above .95 on average

. Any one else have this issue.

Not a problem. And I do have that issue occasionally. My download speeds tend to change daily. Sometimes they are faster, and other times they are killer slow. It confuses me lol

Hey yall! Figured id do another rom review for the galaxy nexus since i have some spare time on my hands. The rom of the week this time is... (drumroll please)..

 

Team Sourcery`s ROM!

 

FEATURES:

Well, i will make it as simple as possible. This rom is built over android`s 4.2.2 base, and definetely makes jelly bean that much more tasty! Of course, all of the features that come stock with 4.2.2 are included on this rom, but there are some more toppings added to flavor things up a bit. Lets take a look at what we got here:

 

*Option to Zipalign APK`S (Allows apps to respond quicker, and run faster)

*Developer options is finally back!(seemed to be taken off of the stock software)

*GPU Overclock up to 512 Mhz(Usually is much more stable to change. Ive done multiple tests

and ive never had a problem with changing that.)

*Custom kernel(Overclocking is possible, but you may want to be more careful with doing that as i have had more crashes on my phone, or random reboots if you change the clock speed above 1.2 Ghz. It has to do with the incorrect voltages being used for the higher clock speeds i believe)/

*Tablet Mode(This rom probably has one of the best tablet modes out of any other rom that supports it. The only problem is the signal strength indicator is too small to see once in tablet mode.)

JB Sourcery Tools(Allows almost complete control over your phone. From custom themes and lockscreen widgets, to custom kernels, and even custom status bar icons, i find this feature to be one of my personal favorites, but thats just my opinion.)

*Trickster MOD kernel settings included(This is the program that controls any modifications that can be made to your system. Includes build.prop tweaking settings, boot images, and with certain kernels, headphone sound boosting options, and high performance sound option.)

*Buttery smooth(Probably one of the quickest roms ive ever used before. Doesnt lag, and is suprisingly stable.

*Great Battery life(For the best battery life, flash Trinity`s kernel. Most of the clock speeds are undervolted, resulting in less power consumption, but not a noticable difference in the speed of the device.

 

Conclusion:

 

All i have to say is: Give it a shot. Dont forget to back-up your data using clockwordmod recovery(DO NOT USE TITANIUM BACKUP TO RESTORE ANY APPS! THE SYSTEM UID`S ARE MISMATCHED IF YOU RESTORE WITH TITANIUM, RESULTING IN EVERY APP FORCE CLOSING!)

Thats all for now. Enjoy the post!

Hi everyone,

 

I've been using this site for a while now, and LTE is starting to pop up around me (still haven't connected to it personally yet though). I have a rooted galaxy s3, and from what I've heard, when you connect to LTE, the only sort of notification you get is that the 3G changes to the number 4G in the notifications bar. Since I don't often look there (and glancing up there I probably wouldn't catch sight of it unless all of a sudden my data was going a heck of a lot faster), I'm wondering if there is a way to change what it shows in the status bar as 4G. Maybe something obvious like YOUR_ON_4G or something like that? Or if that's too long I'd rather have it just say 4G LTE so it'll be a little different? Does anyone know how to do this? Right now I'm running stock but I'm considering cyanogenmod for all its themes.

 

Thanks everyone,

 

Joe

One thing you could do is flash team Sourcery`s rom onto your phone (Built off of android 4.2.2). The rom has a built in program to flash different .png images for the status bar. Really depends on what device you are using though. What phone do you have?

This thread was very helpful to me!