Using Roaming as last vestige to stay with Sprint in LA, question

Hi, Veronica here,
Thanks guys for the support re coverage on the road that Sprint had
previously fully covered and is now in question. I will continue to
monitor and work on that one.
Does Roaming or Digital roaming seamlessly transfer a call that had
been being held on PCS ?

I get the impression that one would have to originate the call on the
Roaming basis and then continue it on that roaming basis and that
specific call would not come off of that roaming basis until
disconnected and re-established as a PCS call. Correct ? (I have never
placed a roaming call prior to this point and would not now were this
Laurel Canyon road a problem. This is my last attempt to stay with
Sprint and not shift to Verizon.) Thanks,
V.

---

› See More: Using Roaming as last vestige to stay with Sprint in LA, question

Veronica wrote:
> Hi, Veronica here,
> Thanks guys for the support re coverage on the road that Sprint had
> previously fully covered and is now in question. I will continue to
> monitor and work on that one.
> Does Roaming or Digital roaming seamlessly transfer a call that had
> been being held on PCS ?

I am not sure I saw your reply to my question whether you talked to Sprint
or not. (Did you?)

I will also point out that over hear on the other side of the mountains,
Verizon Wireless had a problem that caused me to drop numerous calls IN
FRONT OF THEIR RETAIL STORE IN VICTORVILLE that they didn't fix for,
literally, six or seven months (by which time I'd fired them as my cellular
provider.) In their defense, I didn't expect things to be fixed within a day
or two, major repairs take time. On the other hand, six months?! Come on...
and for much of that time they kept telling me it was a problem with my
phone, which had worked fine in that spot since I moved here in 2003.

--
Steve Sobol, Professional Geek 888-480-4638 PGP: 0xE3AE35ED
Company website: http://JustThe.net/
Personal blog, resume, portfolio: http://SteveSobol.com/
E: [email protected] Snail: 22674 Motnocab Road, Apple Valley, CA 92307

"Veronica" <Veronica4-no [email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Hi, Veronica here,
> Thanks guys for the support re coverage on the road that Sprint had
> previously fully covered and is now in question. I will continue to
> monitor and work on that one.
> Does Roaming or Digital roaming seamlessly transfer a call that had
> been being held on PCS ?

No, it would be dropped.

>
> I get the impression that one would have to originate the call on the
> Roaming basis and then continue it on that roaming basis and that
> specific call would not come off of that roaming basis until
> disconnected and re-established as a PCS call. Correct ?

Correct.

(I have never
> placed a roaming call prior to this point and would not now were this
> Laurel Canyon road a problem. This is my last attempt to stay with
> Sprint and not shift to Verizon.) Thanks,
> V.

No big deal, if you have that $5 F&CA option on your account. It's a nice
option to have, considering you might travel to the boondocks where there is
no SPCS native coverage, or if you find you are deep inside a bldg, to where
only an analog signal can make it through the structure.

Bob

You are correct. There's no such thing as CDMA inter-carrier roaming
handoffs during calls in progress. So the call would have to be
originated on the roaming network.

Veronica wrote:
> Hi, Veronica here,
> Thanks guys for the support re coverage on the road that Sprint had
> previously fully covered and is now in question. I will continue to
> monitor and work on that one.
> Does Roaming or Digital roaming seamlessly transfer a call that had
> been being held on PCS ?

No it does not.

> I get the impression that one would have to originate the call on the
> Roaming basis and then continue it on that roaming basis and that
> specific call would not come off of that roaming basis until
> disconnected and re-established as a PCS call. Correct ?

Correct.

> (I have never
> placed a roaming call prior to this point and would not now were this
> Laurel Canyon road a problem. This is my last attempt to stay with
> Sprint and not shift to Verizon.)

Placing a roaming call should be no different procedurally than a call
on Sprint... just dial the number and hit Talk.

However, if Verizon is covering the area that you're frequently roaming
to as well as the area that's covered by Sprint, I would say go ahead
and switch over. Frequent use of roaming opens up a huge pandora's box
of problems. There's delayed billing, where the roaming carrier almost
never immediately sends call billing info to your home carrier until it
has a good, sizeable batch of data to ship out all at once, and
sometimes that can take your roaming calls made on one bill cycle well
into the next one, shorting you on minutes. I've also noted when I
roamed that voicemail notifications rarely worked and text messaging
NEVER works. Neither will PCS Vision.

While the latter issues might not be deal breakers, I'd still be wary of
delayed billing. That alone was a show stopper for me. That, and
combined with the fact taht Sprint doesn't appear to allow roaming on
Verizon in my area (because Sprint already covers my area, or so they
claim to), prompted me to switch.


--
E-mail fudged to thwart spammers.
Transpose the c's and a's in my e-mail address to reply.

Verizon dies not allow roaming on sprint in SoCal, however Sprint allows
roaming on Verizon is SoCal. YMMV

"Isaiah Beard" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Veronica wrote:
>> Hi, Veronica here,
>> Thanks guys for the support re coverage on the road that Sprint had
>> previously fully covered and is now in question. I will continue to
>> monitor and work on that one. Does Roaming or Digital roaming seamlessly
>> transfer a call that had
>> been being held on PCS ?
>
> No it does not.
>
>> I get the impression that one would have to originate the call on the
>> Roaming basis and then continue it on that roaming basis and that
>> specific call would not come off of that roaming basis until
>> disconnected and re-established as a PCS call. Correct ?
>
> Correct.
>
>> (I have never
>> placed a roaming call prior to this point and would not now were this
>> Laurel Canyon road a problem. This is my last attempt to stay with
>> Sprint and not shift to Verizon.)
>
> Placing a roaming call should be no different procedurally than a call on
> Sprint... just dial the number and hit Talk.
>
> However, if Verizon is covering the area that you're frequently roaming to
> as well as the area that's covered by Sprint, I would say go ahead and
> switch over. Frequent use of roaming opens up a huge pandora's box of
> problems. There's delayed billing, where the roaming carrier almost never
> immediately sends call billing info to your home carrier until it has a
> good, sizeable batch of data to ship out all at once, and sometimes that
> can take your roaming calls made on one bill cycle well into the next one,
> shorting you on minutes. I've also noted when I roamed that voicemail
> notifications rarely worked and text messaging NEVER works. Neither will
> PCS Vision.
>
> While the latter issues might not be deal breakers, I'd still be wary of
> delayed billing. That alone was a show stopper for me. That, and
> combined with the fact taht Sprint doesn't appear to allow roaming on
> Verizon in my area (because Sprint already covers my area, or so they
> claim to), prompted me to switch.
>
>
> --
> E-mail fudged to thwart spammers.
> Transpose the c's and a's in my e-mail address to reply.

"Isaiah Beard" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Veronica wrote:
> > Hi, Veronica here,
> > Thanks guys for the support re coverage on the road that Sprint had
> > previously fully covered and is now in question. I will continue to
> > monitor and work on that one.
> > Does Roaming or Digital roaming seamlessly transfer a call that had
> > been being held on PCS ?
>
> No it does not.
>
> > I get the impression that one would have to originate the call on the
> > Roaming basis and then continue it on that roaming basis and that
> > specific call would not come off of that roaming basis until
> > disconnected and re-established as a PCS call. Correct ?
>
> Correct.
>
> > (I have never
> > placed a roaming call prior to this point and would not now were this
> > Laurel Canyon road a problem. This is my last attempt to stay with
> > Sprint and not shift to Verizon.)
>
> Placing a roaming call should be no different procedurally than a call
> on Sprint... just dial the number and hit Talk.
>
> However, if Verizon is covering the area that you're frequently roaming
> to as well as the area that's covered by Sprint, I would say go ahead
> and switch over.

That is certainly an option, however in her case, the problem only occurs in
one specific area, and to where a tower appears to be down.

>Frequent use of roaming opens up a huge pandora's box
> of problems. There's delayed billing, where the roaming carrier almost
> never immediately sends call billing info to your home carrier until it
> has a good, sizeable batch of data to ship out all at once, and
> sometimes that can take your roaming calls made on one bill cycle well
> into the next one, shorting you on minutes. I've also noted when I
> roamed that voicemail notifications rarely worked and text messaging
> NEVER works.

I would normally agree with you Isaiah, however you well know that the F&CA
roaming option will cover the usage during those times she needs to use it
in the affected area. That is, except if she is only making calls during the
area where the roaming takes place. If that is the case, then I would say
wholeheartedly that she needs to change carriers.

> Neither will PCS Vision.

Ok, tell me ... first off, she didn't mention anything about trying to use
Vision while driving ... Who in their right mind would use Vision while
driving, even if is bumper to bumper? It's an invitation for an accident to
try to access the web in a car when one is driving.
>
> While the latter issues might not be deal breakers, I'd still be wary of
> delayed billing. That alone was a show stopper for me. That, and
> combined with the fact taht Sprint doesn't appear to allow roaming on
> Verizon in my area (because Sprint already covers my area, or so they
> claim to), prompted me to switch.
>

Delayed billing is a non matter when it comes to the F&CA option in the LA
basin ....

Bob

Bob Smith wrote:

> Delayed billing is a non matter when it comes to the F&CA option in the LA
> basin ....

Shouldn't be, anyhow. But, I don't know how familiar you are with Los
Angeles, but I don't believe Ventura Boulevard is considered part of the
basin... it's up in the San Fernando Valley on the other side of the
Sepulveda Pass.

Delayed billing (due to roaming) still *normally* shouldn't be an issue
because you would normally not be roaming. I'm just picking nits here.

--
Steve Sobol, Professional Geek 888-480-4638 PGP: 0xE3AE35ED
Company website: http://JustThe.net/
Personal blog, resume, portfolio: http://SteveSobol.com/
E: [email protected] Snail: 22674 Motnocab Road, Apple Valley, CA 92307

Just for the record text messaging when roaming on Verizon now works in
the Los Angeles market. But this also depends on which phone you have.
Some phones have a software bug that won't allow them to even attempt
to send a text message when in roaming mode even though the feature is
available.

Bob Smith wrote:

>>Frequent use of roaming opens up a huge pandora's box
>>of problems. There's delayed billing, where the roaming carrier almost
>>never immediately sends call billing info to your home carrier until it
>>has a good, sizeable batch of data to ship out all at once, and
>>sometimes that can take your roaming calls made on one bill cycle well
>>into the next one, shorting you on minutes. I've also noted when I
>>roamed that voicemail notifications rarely worked and text messaging
>>NEVER works.
>
>
> I would normally agree with you Isaiah, however you well know that the F&CA
> roaming option will cover the usage during those times she needs to use it
> in the affected area.


That's entirely true Bob, and that's exactly the problem. If someone
makes a roaming 100 minute call on the last week of their billing cycle,
thinking they have all of those minutes to burn, there is NO guarantee
at all that those minutes are actually going to show up on that month's
bill. In fact, it's very likely you'll get dinged for at least some if
not all of those 100 minutes on the NEXT bill, leaving you with 100
minutes that were never used previously and 100 minutes LESS time that
you have on the new month.

This is why I was saying that if this is going to be a frequent
occurrence, then it might behoove her to switch to something different
where she will not be roaming.

>> Neither will PCS Vision.
>
>
> Ok, tell me ... first off, she didn't mention anything about trying to use
> Vision while driving ...

She's not going to be the only person reading this post, you of all
should know that. Other people may be in the same pickle and NOT
driving. If she doesn't use Vision, great! But I like to be thorough,
and I like to point out what WILL work, and what won't.


>>While the latter issues might not be deal breakers, I'd still be wary of
>>delayed billing. That alone was a show stopper for me. That, and
>>combined with the fact taht Sprint doesn't appear to allow roaming on
>>Verizon in my area (because Sprint already covers my area, or so they
>>claim to), prompted me to switch.
>>
>
>
> Delayed billing is a non matter when it comes to the F&CA option in the LA
> basin ....

How not? F&CA doesn't eliminate roaming, Bob, it just lets you apply
your home minutes to roaming calls. Roaming carriers often don't have
the facilities in place to immediately pass on billing info for a
roaming call; they often wait a few days; a week; sometimes a month
before they say to Sprint "hey, this person made x number of calls." As
Sprint doesn't have a crystal ball, it can't bill you for those calls
UNTIL it has that billing information. So if it happens a lot, you'll
start to see calls that thought you made last billing cycle show up on
future ones.



--
E-mail fudged to thwart spammers.
Transpose the c's and a's in my e-mail address to reply.

You also might be inside a building where only a PCS signal can make it
through the structure. On the new family plan, I think the roaming is
free.


Bob Smith wrote:
> "Veronica" <Veronica4-no [email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>
>>Hi, Veronica here,
>>Thanks guys for the support re coverage on the road that Sprint had
>>previously fully covered and is now in question. I will continue to
>>monitor and work on that one.
>>Does Roaming or Digital roaming seamlessly transfer a call that had
>>been being held on PCS ?
>
>
> No, it would be dropped.
>
>
>>I get the impression that one would have to originate the call on the
>>Roaming basis and then continue it on that roaming basis and that
>>specific call would not come off of that roaming basis until
>>disconnected and re-established as a PCS call. Correct ?
>
>
> Correct.
>
> (I have never
>
>>placed a roaming call prior to this point and would not now were this
>>Laurel Canyon road a problem. This is my last attempt to stay with
>>Sprint and not shift to Verizon.) Thanks,
>>V.
>
>
> No big deal, if you have that $5 F&CA option on your account. It's a nice
> option to have, considering you might travel to the boondocks where there is
> no SPCS native coverage, or if you find you are deep inside a bldg, to where
> only an analog signal can make it through the structure.
>
> Bob
>
>

"Steve Sobol" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Bob Smith wrote:
>
> > Delayed billing is a non matter when it comes to the F&CA option in the
LA
> > basin ....
>
> Shouldn't be, anyhow. But, I don't know how familiar you are with Los
> Angeles, but I don't believe Ventura Boulevard is considered part of the
> basin... it's up in the San Fernando Valley on the other side of the
> Sepulveda Pass.
>
> Delayed billing (due to roaming) still *normally* shouldn't be an issue
> because you would normally not be roaming. I'm just picking nits here.

Well, lemme see here Steve. Spent 21 years in LA and So. Orange County, and
attended two years at S.F.V.S.C. ... aka: Cal State Northridge ... Yea, I'm
a bit familiar with So. Cal. .

Bob

"Isaiah Beard" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Bob Smith wrote:
>
> >>Frequent use of roaming opens up a huge pandora's box
> >>of problems. There's delayed billing, where the roaming carrier almost
> >>never immediately sends call billing info to your home carrier until it
> >>has a good, sizeable batch of data to ship out all at once, and
> >>sometimes that can take your roaming calls made on one bill cycle well
> >>into the next one, shorting you on minutes. I've also noted when I
> >>roamed that voicemail notifications rarely worked and text messaging
> >>NEVER works.
> >
> >
> > I would normally agree with you Isaiah, however you well know that the
F&CA
> > roaming option will cover the usage during those times she needs to use
it
> > in the affected area.
>
>
> That's entirely true Bob, and that's exactly the problem. If someone
> makes a roaming 100 minute call on the last week of their billing cycle,
> thinking they have all of those minutes to burn, there is NO guarantee
> at all that those minutes are actually going to show up on that month's
> bill. In fact, it's very likely you'll get dinged for at least some if
> not all of those 100 minutes on the NEXT bill, leaving you with 100
> minutes that were never used previously and 100 minutes LESS time that
> you have on the new month.
>
> This is why I was saying that if this is going to be a frequent
> occurrence, then it might behoove her to switch to something different
> where she will not be roaming.

Lots of wouda couda shuddas up there Isaiah in that first sentence. I would
agree with you that, in the past, there might have been a delay in showing
roaming minutes, but not in these days, and not with the large roaming
partners. I haven't seen any delays on roaming when my daughter would be
making calls deep in a college campus bldg. They show up pretty darn quick
in fact. Not like the old days where I was roaming in Bermuda or the Caymans
on analog years ago and the charges would show up 2 months later. Only thing
though, we aren't talking about international roaming, but roaming in an
area which is showing cell shrinkage during the rush hour.

>
> >> Neither will PCS Vision.
> >
> >
> > Ok, tell me ... first off, she didn't mention anything about trying to
use
> > Vision while driving ...
>
> She's not going to be the only person reading this post, you of all
> should know that. Other people may be in the same pickle and NOT
> driving. If she doesn't use Vision, great! But I like to be thorough,
> and I like to point out what WILL work, and what won't.
>

You talk that the area that the OP was driving through was a permanent
roaming area. It isn't though. Only through rush hour. And there still may
be a problem with one tower in the area, which would fix that.

> >>While the latter issues might not be deal breakers, I'd still be wary of
> >>delayed billing. That alone was a show stopper for me. That, and
> >>combined with the fact taht Sprint doesn't appear to allow roaming on
> >>Verizon in my area (because Sprint already covers my area, or so they
> >>claim to), prompted me to switch.
> >>
> >
> >
> > Delayed billing is a non matter when it comes to the F&CA option in the
LA
> > basin ....
>
> How not? F&CA doesn't eliminate roaming, Bob, it just lets you apply
> your home minutes to roaming calls. Roaming carriers often don't have
> the facilities in place to immediately pass on billing info for a
> roaming call; they often wait a few days; a week; sometimes a month
> before they say to Sprint "hey, this person made x number of calls." As
> Sprint doesn't have a crystal ball, it can't bill you for those calls
> UNTIL it has that billing information. So if it happens a lot, you'll
> start to see calls that thought you made last billing cycle show up on
> future ones.
>
With my recent experiences with getting more roaming minutes on my account,
as my daughter has a class or two in the basement of a campus bldg, I
disagree with you. Those roaming calls, are showing up pretty quick.

Bob Smith wrote:

>>>in the affected area.
>>
>>
>>That's entirely true Bob, and that's exactly the problem. If someone
>>makes a roaming 100 minute call on the last week of their billing cycle,
>>thinking they have all of those minutes to burn, there is NO guarantee
>>at all that those minutes are actually going to show up on that month's
>>bill. In fact, it's very likely you'll get dinged for at least some if
>>not all of those 100 minutes on the NEXT bill, leaving you with 100
>>minutes that were never used previously and 100 minutes LESS time that
>>you have on the new month.

>
> Lots of wouda couda shuddas up there Isaiah in that first sentence.

No, actually, there aren't. People don't just stop using their phones
at the end of the month, Bob. So inevitabely, SOME roaming is going to
carry over if you roam frequently like the OP was planning on doing.


> agree with you that, in the past, there might have been a delay in showing
> roaming minutes, but not in these days,

My final Sprint bill will beg to differ with you, I'm afraid.


--
E-mail fudged to thwart spammers.
Transpose the c's and a's in my e-mail address to reply.

Isaiah Beard wrote:
> Bob Smith wrote:
>
>>>> in the affected area.
>>>
>>>
>>> That's entirely true Bob, and that's exactly the problem. If
>>> someone makes a roaming 100 minute call on the last week of their
>>> billing cycle, thinking they have all of those minutes to burn,
>>> there is NO guarantee at all that those minutes are actually going
>>> to show up on that
>>> month's bill. In fact, it's very likely you'll get dinged for at
>>> least some if not all of those 100 minutes on the NEXT bill,
>>> leaving you with 100 minutes that were never used previously and
>>> 100 minutes LESS time that you have on the new month.
>
>>
>> Lots of wouda couda shuddas up there Isaiah in that first sentence.
>
> No, actually, there aren't. People don't just stop using their phones
> at the end of the month, Bob. So inevitabely, SOME roaming is going
> to carry over if you roam frequently like the OP was planning on
> doing.
>
>> agree with you that, in the past, there might have been a delay in
>> showing roaming minutes, but not in these days,
>
> My final Sprint bill will beg to differ with you, I'm afraid.

FWIW, my results are more in line with Bob's when roaming on a major
carrier's network, especially if it's digital (such as Verizon). Now if
I'm in BFE, roaming on AMPS, your position is much more likely to be
true. But I don't think that was the intent of the OP.

Personally, I don't think it's a big issue though--unless the OP uses
>85% of her minutes each month. Even then, if I got a bill with roaming
calls that were outside the billing period, and they put me over my
monthly allotment for a different billing period--but would not have, if
counted in the billing period in which they actually occurred--I would
demand a credit for the overage charges from SPCS. And I think I would
have grounds to file a formal complaint if they refused (assuming I had
F&CA on my plan).

As usual, YRMV.


--
Mike