Switching to Sprint? Opinions?

"Mike" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> O/Siris wrote:
>
> > In article <[email protected]>, [email protected]
> > says...
> >
> >>Well, technically, he *is* right. You can't force a Sprint phone to
use
> >>a network not in its PRL, can you?
> >>
> >
> >
> > Yes, if you're way out in the boonies, and the phone find an analog
> > signal from Rinky-Dink Telecom, Inc, it will acquire and sign in.
> > Then, if you try to use the phone to place a call, you will wind up
> > redirected to their customer care center, where they'll ask for a
> > credit card number, and they'll charge you some per-minute fee to use
> > their network (and I'm told some of those fees make our international
> > roaming rates look cheap).
> >
> > That's just one example.
> >
>
> 1998, Mississippi. Qualcomm QCP-2700. No Sprint. No FM radio even. Want
> to call home to tell them I'm still alive. I check the signal meters,
> and I do have something. I get this roaming network. I can enter a card
> number or I can call collect. No disclosure of fees, no customer service
> people. I decided to call home collect. I figured I'd pay $2-$4 for the
> call. A month later I get a bill of $16 for a two minute call.
> -mike

Boy, you aint from these parts are you..... LOL

---

› See More: Switching to Sprint? Opinions?

I can say some good things about verizon's service in Wisc. It is
all CDMA and all PCS. USCC (USCellular) may be cheaper, but they cover
a lot more square miles than Sprint PCS. It is good that you can access
Sprint PCS' entire network with a single band phone.


Steven J Sobol wrote:
> Jerome Zelinske <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> Sometimes a Sprint PCS phone or a verizon phone will roam cellular
>>or PCS. Now that there are cellular carriers that use CDMA, verizon may
>>have them higher in verizon's prl than they have Sprint PCS in their
>>prl. But it used to be that if a verizon phone roamed in WI, and they
>>wanted to keep the service provided digital, verizon roamed with Sprint
>>PCS higher in the prl. Otherwise the verizon phone would roam analog.
>
>
> Yeah, I know Sprint's coverage in WI has traditionally been better than
> Verizon's. However, I think the real reason why Sprint may not be higher
> in the PRL now is that Verizon's roaming deals are much cheaper with US
> Cellular and Alltel than with Sprint. USCC is in Wisconsin, I believe...
>
> Anyhow, I don't think 1900 or 800 matters. To qualify for no-roaming
> on America's Choice or Verizon's other nationwide plans, you're required
> to have a phone that can use both frequencies. Makes sense, since a couple
> large chunks of Verizon's native coverage are 1900 MHz. (Most of Texas and
> Florida are 1900 MHz, and Verizon has overlaid 1900 MHz coverage on top of
> 800 in some markets.)
>

On Tue, 08 Jun 2004 10:14:25 -0500, Steven J Sobol
<[email protected]> wrote:

(re: Youngstown/Warren, OH)

>> I forget who the other A/B carrier in the market is...I think it's DBA
>> Cellular One.
>
>Dobson CellularONE. I believe you're right. Sprint has native coverage
>there, Dobson has native coverage there, and Alltel also does. Verizon
>does not, and if you have National Single Rate, America's Choice or North
>America's Choice you roam for free on Alltel (I think you may also roam for
>free on the local plans, but I'm not sure about that).

I believe the roaming is free in Youngstown/Warren on the Local
DigitalChoice plans, too... the map, IIRC, includes pretty much all of
Ohio and Michigan, except perhaps much of the extreme southeast part
of the state (I think the Alltel coverage along I-77 in SE Ohio is
included, but much of SE Ohio has little service to begin with).

Sprint is there in Youngstown/Warren, but Sprint's Cleveland SID was
taken out of the PRL a few revisions ago. I was able to roam on
Sprint on my old 5185i, but no PRL in my LG 4400 has allowed Sprint
roaming in NE Ohio. It's Alltel or nothing. Fortunately, Alltel
seems to have pretty extensive digital coverage in the
Youngstown/Warren area, and I've never been without service in the
Mahoning Valley.

Mike

In alt.cellular.sprintpcs Mike <[email protected]> wrote:


> Sprint is there in Youngstown/Warren, but Sprint's Cleveland SID was
> taken out of the PRL a few revisions ago. I was able to roam on
> Sprint on my old 5185i, but no PRL in my LG 4400 has allowed Sprint
> roaming in NE Ohio. It's Alltel or nothing. Fortunately, Alltel
> seems to have pretty extensive digital coverage in the
> Youngstown/Warren area, and I've never been without service in the
> Mahoning Valley.

Yeah, but Verizon coverage in the Lake Shore Boulevard corridor north of
Ohio 283 in Lake County sucked eggs a couple years ago and it was useful
to roam onto Sprint. Verizon coverage around Ashtabula sucked too. I know
the former was fixed (I lived in Mentor on the Lake at the time), but don't
have any idea about the latter. My Verizon phone used to roam onto Sprint
in Ashtabula...

--
JustThe.net Internet & New Media Services, http://JustThe.net/
Steven J. Sobol, Geek In Charge / 888.480.4NET (4638) / [email protected]
PGP Key available from your friendly local key server (0xE3AE35ED)
Apple Valley, California Nothing scares me anymore. I have three kids.

On Wed, 09 Jun 2004 21:38:20 -0500, Steven J Sobol
<[email protected]> wrote:

>Yeah, but Verizon coverage in the Lake Shore Boulevard corridor north of
>Ohio 283 in Lake County sucked eggs a couple years ago and it was useful
>to roam onto Sprint. Verizon coverage around Ashtabula sucked too. I know
>the former was fixed (I lived in Mentor on the Lake at the time), but don't
>have any idea about the latter. My Verizon phone used to roam onto Sprint
>in Ashtabula...

I've never had any problem with VZW coverage up in Ashtabula or nearby
areas...the coverage there seems just as solid as most of the rest of
NE Ohio.

I'm guessing that eventually, VZW will drop nearly all Sprint coverage
out of the PRL, except when they have no other choice. Almost every
PRL update seems to kick out anywhere from one to three Sprint PCS
SIDs.

Mike

In alt.cellular.sprintpcs Mike <[email protected]> wrote:

> I'm guessing that eventually, VZW will drop nearly all Sprint coverage
> out of the PRL, except when they have no other choice. Almost every
> PRL update seems to kick out anywhere from one to three Sprint PCS
> SIDs.

Probably because Verizon can't get the sweet roaming deals from Sprint
that they can from USCC and Alltel.

--
JustThe.net Internet & New Media Services, http://JustThe.net/
Steven J. Sobol, Geek In Charge / 888.480.4NET (4638) / [email protected]
PGP Key available from your friendly local key server (0xE3AE35ED)
Apple Valley, California Nothing scares me anymore. I have three kids.

What if you have 700 regular minutes and the unlimited evening/weekends of
course. Your total for the month turns out to be 600 regular minutes and
2,000 evening/weekend minutes. 400 of your regular minutes are roaming and
only 600 of the evening/weekend minutes are. Do you get warned? What about
if only 250 of the regular minutes are roaming but 1,500 of the
evening/weekend ones are? What happens then?

I'm thinking about switching from Verizon to Sprint, but I keep hearing
stuff that scares me away. And I can't find anyone who can tell me if the
service will work well in an area that's about 2 miles from the Interstate
but kind of in the country (Verizon works well there).

A 14-day trial isn't very reasonable for me, because I'll be putting 3
phones on the same account and keeping my numbers that I currently have with
Verizon. So I need to know for sure what to do before I make a decision.

Also, I want a phone that is a good camera phone, is reliable, and works
well with PCS Vision. I was going to get the PM8200 (even though I don't
need RL), but some people on here have been saying the phone isn't so
reliable. I don't want to spend more than $100/phone after the instant
rebates.

Ernest

----------------------

"O/Siris" <0siris@sprîntpcs.com> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] says...
>
> ONLY if total roaming minutes are less than half of the total minutes
> used that month.
>
>

Actually, no. If you exceed that 50% limit, you're still covered.
We send you a friendly reminder of the 50% limit, but cover you
unless you exceed it twice within a 3-month period.

--
RŘß
O/Siris
I work for Sprint PCS
I *don't* speak for them

"O/Siris" <0siris@sprîntpcs.cŘm> wrote:

>The 50% limit only applies to total usage. If more than 50% of your total
>usage in a month is roaming, then we cover you and send you a reminder about
>the 50% limit. Do it again within 3 months, and we still cover you, but we
>remove the Free&Clear America option.

Are you saying that if I had a Sprint plan with 800 minutes a month,
used 40 of them, and 21 of them were roaming, I'd be in violation? Or
would it take 401 minutes?



==
Jack Hamilton
[email protected]

==
In the end, more than they wanted freedom, they wanted comfort and security.
And in the end, they lost it all - freedom, comfort and security.
Edward Gibbons

In article <[email protected]>,
Jack Hamilton <[email protected]> wrote:

> "O/Siris" <0siris@sprîntpcs.cŘm> wrote:
>
> >The 50% limit only applies to total usage. If more than 50% of your total
> >usage in a month is roaming, then we cover you and send you a reminder about
> >the 50% limit. Do it again within 3 months, and we still cover you, but we
> >remove the Free&Clear America option.
>
> Are you saying that if I had a Sprint plan with 800 minutes a month,
> used 40 of them, and 21 of them were roaming, I'd be in violation? Or
> would it take 401 minutes?

In your scenario 21 would be a violation.

"Jack Hamilton" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> "O/Siris" <0siris@sprîntpcs.cŘm> wrote:
>
> >The 50% limit only applies to total usage. If more than 50% of your
total
> >usage in a month is roaming, then we cover you and send you a reminder
about
> >the 50% limit. Do it again within 3 months, and we still cover you, but
we
> >remove the Free&Clear America option.
>
> Are you saying that if I had a Sprint plan with 800 minutes a month,
> used 40 of them, and 21 of them were roaming, I'd be in violation? Or
> would it take 401 minutes?
>
>
>
> ==
> Jack Hamilton
> [email protected]

In the 21/40 example - Yes, but I don't think the word "violation" is the
right terminology to use. More likely described as an overage. On the
401/800 example - No. It's 50% of the minutes "used" during a billing cycle,
not the amount of plan minutes included in your monthly plan.

Bob

"Bob Smith" <[email protected]> wrote:

>
>"Jack Hamilton" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>news:[email protected]...
>> "O/Siris" <0siris@sprîntpcs.cŘm> wrote:
>>
>> >The 50% limit only applies to total usage. If more than 50% of your
>total
>> >usage in a month is roaming, then we cover you and send you a reminder
>about
>> >the 50% limit. Do it again within 3 months, and we still cover you, but
>we
>> >remove the Free&Clear America option.
>>
>> Are you saying that if I had a Sprint plan with 800 minutes a month,
>> used 40 of them, and 21 of them were roaming, I'd be in violation? Or
>> would it take 401 minutes?
>>
>>
>>
>> ==
>> Jack Hamilton
>> [email protected]
>
>In the 21/40 example - Yes, but I don't think the word "violation" is the
>right terminology to use. More likely described as an overage. On the
>401/800 example - No. It's 50% of the minutes "used" during a billing cycle,
>not the amount of plan minutes included in your monthly plan.

So I'd be better off calling my home phone and just letting the two
phones stay connected for two hours when I got back, so the denominator
would be larger. I wouldn't think Sprint would want to encourage that.



==
Jack Hamilton
[email protected]

==
In the end, more than they wanted freedom, they wanted comfort and security.
And in the end, they lost it all - freedom, comfort and security.
Edward Gibbons

"Jack Hamilton" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> "Bob Smith" <[email protected]> wrote:

<snipped>
>
> So I'd be better off calling my home phone and just letting the two
> phones stay connected for two hours when I got back, so the denominator
> would be larger. I wouldn't think Sprint would want to encourage that.

These all sound like hypothetical arguments. First off Jack, let's get
something straight. It sounds like you don't have SPCS coverage with all
this talk of roaming. If you were roaming that much, you should have dumped
SPCS and found another provider. If you do have coverage with SPCS and roam
that much, I have a bridge in Brooklyn, NY I'd like to sell you ...

We have not had any complaints about the F&CA option in the SPCS newsgroup.
In fact, I don't remember anyone filing a post where they received a
notification of having too many roaming minutes. It's probably the best $5
monthly investment offered by SPCS for those that do find they roam
occasionally, either off network or in a dead spot.

As Rob has mentioned a number of times, if SPCS sees a trend where there are
more that 50% roaming minutes in a billing cycle, they will send a
notification to the customer. If a customer does exceed the 50% threshold,
SPCS doesn't charge them any more $$$. If the customer continues with that
calling pattern, they will remove the F&CA option from the plan after 90
days.

Bob

In article <[email protected]>,
Jack Hamilton <[email protected]> wrote:

> >In the 21/40 example - Yes, but I don't think the word "violation" is the
> >right terminology to use. More likely described as an overage. On the
> >401/800 example - No. It's 50% of the minutes "used" during a billing cycle,
> >not the amount of plan minutes included in your monthly plan.
>
> So I'd be better off calling my home phone and just letting the two
> phones stay connected for two hours when I got back, so the denominator
> would be larger. I wouldn't think Sprint would want to encourage that.

When you have anal-retentive rules, folks quickly find ways around them.

"Bob Smith" <[email protected]> wrote:

>
>"Jack Hamilton" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>news:[email protected]...
>> "Bob Smith" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
><snipped>
>>
>> So I'd be better off calling my home phone and just letting the two
>> phones stay connected for two hours when I got back, so the denominator
>> would be larger. I wouldn't think Sprint would want to encourage that.
>
>These all sound like hypothetical arguments. First off Jack, let's get
>something straight. It sounds like you don't have SPCS coverage with all
>this talk of roaming. If you were roaming that much, you should have dumped
>SPCS and found another provider. If you do have coverage with SPCS and roam
>that much, I have a bridge in Brooklyn, NY I'd like to sell you ...

You're right. I'm a former Sprint customer, and I left partly because
of the roaming problem and partly because of the customer service
problem. I don't roam much, but when I do I want coverage.

I didn't leave Sprint vowing I'd never come back, so I want to keep up
with what they're doing - it's not impossible for a formerly good
carrier to destroy itself, as AT&T Wireless was doing last year, and I
might decide to leave VZW someday. Sprint has certainly improved their
plans over the past few years, but it sounds like they still have some
thinking to do. Can you really say that their current rule as described
makes sense?




==
Jack Hamilton
[email protected]

==
In the end, more than they wanted freedom, they wanted comfort and security.
And in the end, they lost it all - freedom, comfort and security.
Edward Gibbons

"Jack Hamilton" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> "Bob Smith" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> >
> >"Jack Hamilton" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> >news:[email protected]...
> >> "Bob Smith" <[email protected]> wrote:
> >
> ><snipped>
> >>
> >> So I'd be better off calling my home phone and just letting the two
> >> phones stay connected for two hours when I got back, so the denominator
> >> would be larger. I wouldn't think Sprint would want to encourage that.
> >
> >These all sound like hypothetical arguments. First off Jack, let's get
> >something straight. It sounds like you don't have SPCS coverage with all
> >this talk of roaming. If you were roaming that much, you should have
dumped
> >SPCS and found another provider. If you do have coverage with SPCS and
roam
> >that much, I have a bridge in Brooklyn, NY I'd like to sell you ...
>
> You're right. I'm a former Sprint customer, and I left partly because
> of the roaming problem and partly because of the customer service
> problem. I don't roam much, but when I do I want coverage.
>
> I didn't leave Sprint vowing I'd never come back, so I want to keep up
> with what they're doing - it's not impossible for a formerly good
> carrier to destroy itself, as AT&T Wireless was doing last year, and I
> might decide to leave VZW someday. Sprint has certainly improved their
> plans over the past few years, but it sounds like they still have some
> thinking to do. Can you really say that their current rule as described
> makes sense?

Sure I do. Again, if you find yourself roaming over 50% of the time, then
you need to change carriers. Like I said before, SPCS doesn't make a
distinction between AT & N & W minutes, as you questioned previously.

Bob

Bob