How many minutes? StarTac 7868W

I have a StarTac 7868W and over the past... oh, month or so, I've noticed
a disquieting upturn in the number of dropped calls. Case in point was
last night; driving home from work, I had an extended conversation with
the help desk who needed help -- probably a good 25 minutes I was on with
them. Then I started making calls home and to the wife. The call
inbound from the help desk was fine; the calls to and from home and to
and from the wife were replete with the standard electronic buzz;
silence; buzz; hiss; and then the startac going "Beep" and reporting
"signal faded, call lost."

Is there some sort of longevity that I'm not considering here? I wonder
whether my phone is just... old. To let you know, it has a cumulative,
true (not reset) 12121 minutes on it. (Yes, I've had it a while.) Is
the transmitter just gettin' tired?

I googled around and discovered that it can be the infrastructure
upgrades; not sure if any of 'em are taking place around here. I'm a VZW
customer based in the Lehigh Valley of PA, and most of my driving is
Central NJ and eastern PA/Lehigh Valley.

My wife is halfway pressuring me to get another phone. If I do, I'm
gonna go for an eBay StarTac, let me tell you. None of these fancy foo
foo phones. But should I pester VZW for answers or just retire this
bad boy with honors?

---
If outsourcing is cheaper, then I guess takeout has to be cheaper than
home cooked.
-- Julian M. in adfp

---

› See More: How many minutes? StarTac 7868W

"Rich" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I have a StarTac 7868W and over the past... oh, month or so, I've noticed
> a disquieting upturn in the number of dropped calls. Case in point was
> last night; driving home from work, I had an extended conversation with
> the help desk who needed help -- probably a good 25 minutes I was on with
> them. Then I started making calls home and to the wife. The call
> inbound from the help desk was fine; the calls to and from home and to
> and from the wife were replete with the standard electronic buzz;
> silence; buzz; hiss; and then the startac going "Beep" and reporting
> "signal faded, call lost."


when was the last time you dialed *228 and updated your PRL?

geoff

"Rich" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I have a StarTac 7868W and over the past... oh, month or so, I've noticed
> a disquieting upturn in the number of dropped calls. Case in point was
> last night; driving home from work, I had an extended conversation with
> the help desk who needed help -- probably a good 25 minutes I was on with
> them. Then I started making calls home and to the wife. The call
> inbound from the help desk was fine; the calls to and from home and to
> and from the wife were replete with the standard electronic buzz;
> silence; buzz; hiss; and then the startac going "Beep" and reporting
> "signal faded, call lost."


when was the last time you dialed *228 and updated your PRL?

geoff

I just bought a brand new V60i phone through ebay. Never used before, brand
new. These models replace the Startacs and maybe it's some thing you'd want
to look at?

"Rich" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I have a StarTac 7868W and over the past... oh, month or so, I've noticed
> a disquieting upturn in the number of dropped calls. Case in point was
> last night; driving home from work, I had an extended conversation with
> the help desk who needed help -- probably a good 25 minutes I was on with
> them. Then I started making calls home and to the wife. The call
> inbound from the help desk was fine; the calls to and from home and to
> and from the wife were replete with the standard electronic buzz;
> silence; buzz; hiss; and then the startac going "Beep" and reporting
> "signal faded, call lost."
>
> Is there some sort of longevity that I'm not considering here? I wonder
> whether my phone is just... old. To let you know, it has a cumulative,
> true (not reset) 12121 minutes on it. (Yes, I've had it a while.) Is
> the transmitter just gettin' tired?
>
> I googled around and discovered that it can be the infrastructure
> upgrades; not sure if any of 'em are taking place around here. I'm a VZW
> customer based in the Lehigh Valley of PA, and most of my driving is
> Central NJ and eastern PA/Lehigh Valley.
>
> My wife is halfway pressuring me to get another phone. If I do, I'm
> gonna go for an eBay StarTac, let me tell you. None of these fancy foo
> foo phones. But should I pester VZW for answers or just retire this
> bad boy with honors?
>
> ---
> If outsourcing is cheaper, then I guess takeout has to be cheaper than
> home cooked.
> -- Julian M. in adfp




----== Posted via Newsfeed.Com - Unlimited-Uncensored-Secure Usenet News==----
http://www.newsfeed.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! >100,000 Newsgroups
---= 19 East/West-Coast Specialized Servers - Total Privacy via Encryption =---

I just bought a brand new V60i phone through ebay. Never used before, brand
new. These models replace the Startacs and maybe it's some thing you'd want
to look at?

"Rich" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I have a StarTac 7868W and over the past... oh, month or so, I've noticed
> a disquieting upturn in the number of dropped calls. Case in point was
> last night; driving home from work, I had an extended conversation with
> the help desk who needed help -- probably a good 25 minutes I was on with
> them. Then I started making calls home and to the wife. The call
> inbound from the help desk was fine; the calls to and from home and to
> and from the wife were replete with the standard electronic buzz;
> silence; buzz; hiss; and then the startac going "Beep" and reporting
> "signal faded, call lost."
>
> Is there some sort of longevity that I'm not considering here? I wonder
> whether my phone is just... old. To let you know, it has a cumulative,
> true (not reset) 12121 minutes on it. (Yes, I've had it a while.) Is
> the transmitter just gettin' tired?
>
> I googled around and discovered that it can be the infrastructure
> upgrades; not sure if any of 'em are taking place around here. I'm a VZW
> customer based in the Lehigh Valley of PA, and most of my driving is
> Central NJ and eastern PA/Lehigh Valley.
>
> My wife is halfway pressuring me to get another phone. If I do, I'm
> gonna go for an eBay StarTac, let me tell you. None of these fancy foo
> foo phones. But should I pester VZW for answers or just retire this
> bad boy with honors?
>
> ---
> If outsourcing is cheaper, then I guess takeout has to be cheaper than
> home cooked.
> -- Julian M. in adfp




----== Posted via Newsfeed.Com - Unlimited-Uncensored-Secure Usenet News==----
http://www.newsfeed.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! >100,000 Newsgroups
---= 19 East/West-Coast Specialized Servers - Total Privacy via Encryption =---

On Sat, 20 Dec 2003 01:58:01 GMT, Rich <[email protected]> wrote:

>I have a StarTac 7868W and over the past... oh, month or so, I've noticed
>a disquieting upturn in the number of dropped calls. Case in point was

One of the disquieting things "they" do is to put up a new cell on one
side of a tower, lets say between tower A and B, to increase coverage
(not to mention revenues as more can talk at once with the clock
running). But, to keep the users around the new tower from grabbing
signals from the old tower, it's necessary to LOWER the antenna
patterns on the old towers.

Now, suppose YOU are NOT anywhere near the new tower, or between them.
YOU are in the fringe where the radiation patterns and antenna
pointings on the old towers gave you good service. Suddenly, the
antennas that were 400' in the air pointed out towards your place are
now relocated DOWN the tower to 150' and the panels pointed more
downward to cover LESS area to protect the territory (and revenues
generated by) the new tower(s).

Think you get less signal out YOUR way? You betcha you do.....until
the complaints make it necessary to put up the little microcells in
YOUR area.

I remember when the antennas were 500' up a huge self-supporting tower
any broadcaster would be proud of pointing out towards the horizon.
On these SAME towers, the antennas are now tilted over towards the
ground at 150' AGL because back towards the center of the city, there
are new 150' towers in new cells. The other way, out of town, signals
SUCK! It doesn't take a PhD electronics engineer to see why......

Your new geephone is also part of the problem. They have a 2-3 mile
range at 200 milliwatts, only 2/10 of a watt. Hell, a $29 FRS walkie
from Walmart runs over double that power. The consumers demanded the
batteries ran a week between charges, JUST IN TIME when the companies
were pulling this stunt on the old 800 Mhz system.

Gotcha.

Now we'll hear how all I'm saying is all bull**** and sour grapes.
Hope you can stand the backlash....ignore it. Lower antennas on less
power reduce radio range. It's why the TV station is on Magnet
Mountain or a 2000' tall tower running 5 megawatts......RANGE!

Power IS our friend....

Larry W4CSC

NNNN

On Sat, 20 Dec 2003 01:58:01 GMT, Rich <[email protected]> wrote:

>I have a StarTac 7868W and over the past... oh, month or so, I've noticed
>a disquieting upturn in the number of dropped calls. Case in point was

One of the disquieting things "they" do is to put up a new cell on one
side of a tower, lets say between tower A and B, to increase coverage
(not to mention revenues as more can talk at once with the clock
running). But, to keep the users around the new tower from grabbing
signals from the old tower, it's necessary to LOWER the antenna
patterns on the old towers.

Now, suppose YOU are NOT anywhere near the new tower, or between them.
YOU are in the fringe where the radiation patterns and antenna
pointings on the old towers gave you good service. Suddenly, the
antennas that were 400' in the air pointed out towards your place are
now relocated DOWN the tower to 150' and the panels pointed more
downward to cover LESS area to protect the territory (and revenues
generated by) the new tower(s).

Think you get less signal out YOUR way? You betcha you do.....until
the complaints make it necessary to put up the little microcells in
YOUR area.

I remember when the antennas were 500' up a huge self-supporting tower
any broadcaster would be proud of pointing out towards the horizon.
On these SAME towers, the antennas are now tilted over towards the
ground at 150' AGL because back towards the center of the city, there
are new 150' towers in new cells. The other way, out of town, signals
SUCK! It doesn't take a PhD electronics engineer to see why......

Your new geephone is also part of the problem. They have a 2-3 mile
range at 200 milliwatts, only 2/10 of a watt. Hell, a $29 FRS walkie
from Walmart runs over double that power. The consumers demanded the
batteries ran a week between charges, JUST IN TIME when the companies
were pulling this stunt on the old 800 Mhz system.

Gotcha.

Now we'll hear how all I'm saying is all bull**** and sour grapes.
Hope you can stand the backlash....ignore it. Lower antennas on less
power reduce radio range. It's why the TV station is on Magnet
Mountain or a 2000' tall tower running 5 megawatts......RANGE!

Power IS our friend....

Larry W4CSC

NNNN

"Geoff Brozny" <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:

> when was the last time you dialed *228 and updated your PRL?
>

Yep, thought of that. I did it last night after being fed up, but before
that I have to admit that it was at least a couple of months. Hell,
probably six months or more.

Here's hoping that fixes things.

From what I'm reading so far, it ain't the phone. Which is gratifying,
since now I can keep my little flippy.

---
If outsourcing is cheaper, then I guess takeout has to be cheaper than home
cooked.
-- Julian M. in adfp

"Geoff Brozny" <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:

> when was the last time you dialed *228 and updated your PRL?
>

Yep, thought of that. I did it last night after being fed up, but before
that I have to admit that it was at least a couple of months. Hell,
probably six months or more.

Here's hoping that fixes things.

From what I'm reading so far, it ain't the phone. Which is gratifying,
since now I can keep my little flippy.

---
If outsourcing is cheaper, then I guess takeout has to be cheaper than home
cooked.
-- Julian M. in adfp

> I have a StarTac 7868W and over the past... oh, month or so, I've noticed
> a disquieting upturn in the number of dropped calls. Case in point was

I still depend on my Startac and notice a bit of the same thing. I
also have newer 1x phones which don't exhibit the problem. I had
suspected that bandwidth/priority was moving to 1x communications over
pre-1x-CDMA, though many here seemed to disagree.

One thought... your antenna may have a problem with it. Do you get 1
more bar of service 3-5 seconds after you extend the antenna (and lose
it when it's not extended)? If not, you might want to take your phone
into a verizon for a $10 antenna replacement.

-MVL

> I have a StarTac 7868W and over the past... oh, month or so, I've noticed
> a disquieting upturn in the number of dropped calls. Case in point was

I still depend on my Startac and notice a bit of the same thing. I
also have newer 1x phones which don't exhibit the problem. I had
suspected that bandwidth/priority was moving to 1x communications over
pre-1x-CDMA, though many here seemed to disagree.

One thought... your antenna may have a problem with it. Do you get 1
more bar of service 3-5 seconds after you extend the antenna (and lose
it when it's not extended)? If not, you might want to take your phone
into a verizon for a $10 antenna replacement.

-MVL

[email protected] (MVL) wrote in
news:[email protected]:
> One thought... your antenna may have a problem with it. Do you get 1
> more bar of service 3-5 seconds after you extend the antenna (and lose
> it when it's not extended)? If not, you might want to take your phone
> into a verizon for a $10 antenna replacement.

Didn't notice. I'll look for that, thanks.

---
If outsourcing is cheaper, then I guess takeout has to be cheaper than home
cooked.
-- Julian M. in adfp

[email protected] (MVL) wrote in
news:[email protected]:
> One thought... your antenna may have a problem with it. Do you get 1
> more bar of service 3-5 seconds after you extend the antenna (and lose
> it when it's not extended)? If not, you might want to take your phone
> into a verizon for a $10 antenna replacement.

Didn't notice. I'll look for that, thanks.

---
If outsourcing is cheaper, then I guess takeout has to be cheaper than home
cooked.
-- Julian M. in adfp