Roaming: "Sprint" vs "Automatic"

On 2 May 2005 04:40:18 -0700, [email protected] wrote:

>I'm not sure if you're already from the Detroit area, but you can bet
>your ass that your reception will never improve while you live in
>"Upscale" Birmingham.
>

Nope, not new to the Detroit area, but newly residing in Birmingham. I
identified the locale merely for the historical record, so that it
will be sitting in the Google archives for future frustrated
searchers.

Had the same problem in Royal Oak a couple years back, but not nearly
to this extent. That was pre-portability, so I suffered through it
because my cell number was just too valuable to abruptly give up at
that point.

>Sometimes money blocks progress.
>
>Birmingham folks oppose just about everything. Parks, towers, etc.
>Anything that may be too close to their Utopia. This pops up in the
>Free Press at least once a month. Some story about something new, and
>needed, but nobody wants to look at it or have it around.
>
>Not shredding on you personally, But quite a few us pay a "Premium
>Price" to sprint every month. I live by ann arbor, reception around
>here is killer, just about everywhere. I can even talk in my basement.

I know you're not shredding on me personally -- I mentioned the
"upscale" thing only because I find it amusing, on a sort of cosmic
level, that I get better reception in "run-down" Detroit than I do in
an ostensibly well-to-do suburb.

The NIMBY thing makes sense. What doesn't make sense is that none of
my non-Sprint friends or colleagues ever seem to have these issues in
my various locales -- whether Birmingham or Royal Oak. I have sat with
envy as they get their five Cingular and Verizon bars, then sat with
dismay as my girlfriends and bosses (redundant?) rail on me because
"you never answer your damned phone" -- when of course it's simply
that the Damned Phone doesn't ring when they call.

>You should have moved to the Pointes. Good cell reception, plus the
>money's older. Tons of towers flanking the Detroit border.
>

I was THISCLOSE to buying in Grosse Pointe. Hell, at this point, a
decent cell connection might have sealed the deal.

DMc

---

› See More: Roaming: "Sprint" vs "Automatic"

Dave Mc wrote:

> The NIMBY thing makes sense. What doesn't make sense is that none of
> my non-Sprint friends or colleagues ever seem to have these issues in
> my various locales -- whether Birmingham or Royal Oak.

Which phone do you have? That makes a difference.

> I was THISCLOSE to buying in Grosse Pointe. Hell, at this point, a
> decent cell connection might have sealed the deal.

I got lucky. Moved in with my wife (who back then was my fiancee), into a
beautiful house in a beautiful neighborhood in Mentor on the Lake, Ohio, and
was a 90-second drive from a Sprint tower. That was 11/2001. Fast forward to
August 2003. After a month living with my mother-in-law while we looked for a
house, we rented a nice house on an acre of land in Apple Valley, California.

....You guessed it. A 90-second drive from ANOTHER Sprint tower.

Plus, there's another tower at State Highway 18 and Navajo which is about 5-7
minutes from us.

I *heart* Sprint's network.

--
JustThe.net - Apple Valley, CA - http://JustThe.net/ - 888.480.4NET (4638)
Steven J. Sobol, Geek In Charge / [email protected] / PGP: 0xE3AE35ED

"The wisdom of a fool won't set you free"
--New Order, "Bizarre Love Triangle"

On Mon, 02 May 2005 16:29:24 -0700, Steve Sobol <[email protected]>
wrote:


>Which phone do you have? That makes a difference.

A new Sanyo 8200, which last week replaced my old 4500 for a 14-day
test run. And the problems seem to have gotten only worse, honest to
God.

>
>I got lucky. Moved in with my wife (who back then was my fiancee), into a
>beautiful house in a beautiful neighborhood in Mentor on the Lake, Ohio, and
>was a 90-second drive from a Sprint tower. That was 11/2001. Fast forward to
>August 2003. After a month living with my mother-in-law while we looked for a
>house, we rented a nice house on an acre of land in Apple Valley, California.
>
>...You guessed it. A 90-second drive from ANOTHER Sprint tower.
>
>Plus, there's another tower at State Highway 18 and Navajo which is about 5-7
>minutes from us.
>
>I *heart* Sprint's network.

Yeah, serendipity ain't a bad thing. I'm stuck with some sort of
Sprint curse.

Dave Mc wrote:
> On Mon, 02 May 2005 16:29:24 -0700, Steve Sobol <[email protected]>
> wrote:
>
>>Which phone do you have? That makes a difference.
>
> A new Sanyo 8200, which last week replaced my old 4500 for a 14-day
> test run. And the problems seem to have gotten only worse, honest to
> God.

Which is weird, because the Sanyos are supposed to have great "RF sections".
See if you can find another local Sprint customer who has a Nokia (a *new*
Nokia - a 6225 or a 3588; the older CDMA models did a crappy job holding onto
weak signals) or a Motorola v60v, or one of the Samsungs that has better RF
performance. (*Not* a 660. A 620, aka VGA-1000; or perhaps a 740 or 760. Maybe
the 680s are ok, but I wouldn't bet on it.)

>>I got lucky. Moved in with my wife (who back then was my fiancee), into a
>>beautiful house in a beautiful neighborhood in Mentor on the Lake, Ohio, and
>>was a 90-second drive from a Sprint tower. That was 11/2001. Fast forward to
>>August 2003. After a month living with my mother-in-law while we looked for a
>>house, we rented a nice house on an acre of land in Apple Valley, California.
>>
>>...You guessed it. A 90-second drive from ANOTHER Sprint tower.
>>
>>Plus, there's another tower at State Highway 18 and Navajo which is about 5-7
>>minutes from us.
>>
>>I *heart* Sprint's network.
>
> Yeah, serendipity ain't a bad thing. I'm stuck with some sort of
> Sprint curse.

Well, out north of here, going up Central Road towards the middle of nowhere,
it's not like there are a ton of NIMBYs. Navajo at 18 is in Apple Valley's
business district, so there aren't a lot of NIMBYs living right there either.
However, there *ARE* areas of Apple Valley where the house prices range from a
half-million up to about 2 or 3 million (on Riverside Drive, for example, right
on the Mojave River*) and you can bet there aren't any towers in *those*
neighborhoods.

**SJS

*Yes. There IS a river running through the middle of the desert! I can take
pictures if you want. It rains and occasionally even snows here, too.

--
JustThe.net - Apple Valley, CA - http://JustThe.net/ - 888.480.4NET (4638)
Steven J. Sobol, Geek In Charge / [email protected] / PGP: 0xE3AE35ED

"The wisdom of a fool won't set you free"
--New Order, "Bizarre Love Triangle"

Steve Sobol <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:

>
> Dave Mc wrote:
>> On Mon, 02 May 2005 16:29:24 -0700, Steve Sobol <[email protected]>
>> wrote:
>>
>>>Which phone do you have? That makes a difference.
>>
>> A new Sanyo 8200, which last week replaced my old 4500 for a 14-day
>> test run. And the problems seem to have gotten only worse, honest to
>> God.
>
> Which is weird, because the Sanyos are supposed to have great "RF
> sections". See if you can find another local Sprint customer who has a
> Nokia (a *new* Nokia - a 6225 or a 3588; the older CDMA models did a
> crappy job holding onto weak signals) or a Motorola v60v, or one of
> the Samsungs that has better RF performance. (*Not* a 660. A 620, aka
> VGA-1000; or perhaps a 740 or 760. Maybe the 680s are ok, but I
> wouldn't bet on it.)
>
esterday I picked up a LG 325 and the reception is really good.
I have always had Sanyos but this is incredeble

Dave Mc wrote:
> Five-year Sprint customer here. Moved into a new home recently, in
the
> heart of a fairly upscale suburb in a major metropolitan area.
> (Birmingham, in metro Detroit, for those who care to know.)
>
> I've had horrendous reception since moving in, despite no apparent
> physical obstructions and the fact that, well, this is a fairly
upscale
> suburb in a major metropolitan area. One would think that in 2005,
such
> a setting would not leave a user plagued with 90 percent of incoming
> calls going straight to voice mail, or calls in progress getting
> dropped every two minutes.
>

Its not Sprint, its lousy Lucent/Nortel network equipment. You can
thank the distinguished
Nobel Prize Winners of BELL LABS in NJ for your service.

JG

All major carriers face the problem of the local city council that usually
does not want cell towers in neighborhoods. It has nothing to do with
Nortel equipment. You should attend your city council meetings whenever a
cellular carrier wants to erect a new cell site and speak in favor of the
tower.



<[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> Dave Mc wrote:
>> Five-year Sprint customer here. Moved into a new home recently, in
> the
>> heart of a fairly upscale suburb in a major metropolitan area.
>> (Birmingham, in metro Detroit, for those who care to know.)
>>
>> I've had horrendous reception since moving in, despite no apparent
>> physical obstructions and the fact that, well, this is a fairly
> upscale
>> suburb in a major metropolitan area. One would think that in 2005,
> such
>> a setting would not leave a user plagued with 90 percent of incoming
>> calls going straight to voice mail, or calls in progress getting
>> dropped every two minutes.
>>
>
> Its not Sprint, its lousy Lucent/Nortel network equipment. You can
> thank the distinguished
> Nobel Prize Winners of BELL LABS in NJ for your service.
>
> JG
>

Mij Adway wrote:
> All major carriers face the problem of the local city council that usually
> does not want cell towers in neighborhoods. It has nothing to do with
> Nortel equipment.

How many cell towers do you actually have down there? Are you counting antennas
that may not be on 100-foot poles?

--
JustThe.net - Apple Valley, CA - http://JustThe.net/ - 888.480.4NET (4638)
Steven J. Sobol, Geek In Charge / [email protected] / PGP: 0xE3AE35ED

"The wisdom of a fool won't set you free"
--New Order, "Bizarre Love Triangle"

The are not a lot of actual cell towers except along the freeways. Sprint
erects cell sites that are disguised as light poles and also pine trees.
Even the disguised cell sites require city council approval here in Laguna
Niguel.

-mij

"Steve Sobol" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Mij Adway wrote:
>> All major carriers face the problem of the local city council that
>> usually does not want cell towers in neighborhoods. It has nothing to do
>> with Nortel equipment.
>
> How many cell towers do you actually have down there? Are you counting
> antennas that may not be on 100-foot poles?
>
> --
> JustThe.net - Apple Valley, CA - http://JustThe.net/ - 888.480.4NET (4638)
> Steven J. Sobol, Geek In Charge / [email protected] / PGP: 0xE3AE35ED
>
> "The wisdom of a fool won't set you free"
> --New Order, "Bizarre Love Triangle"

Mij Adway wrote:
> The are not a lot of actual cell towers except along the freeways. Sprint
> erects cell sites that are disguised as light poles and also pine trees.
> Even the disguised cell sites require city council approval here in Laguna
> Niguel.

I'm sure they do everywhere else too; it's a zoning issue. My point was "don't
just count the big towers."

--
JustThe.net - Apple Valley, CA - http://JustThe.net/ - 888.480.4NET (4638)
Steven J. Sobol, Geek In Charge / [email protected] / PGP: 0xE3AE35ED

"The wisdom of a fool won't set you free"
--New Order, "Bizarre Love Triangle"

I went to a city council meeting on Tuesday night to support a new Sprint
Pine Tree. One of the city council members went to look at an existing
Sprint Pine Tree and was impressed with the aesthetics.


"Steve Sobol" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Mij Adway wrote:
>> The are not a lot of actual cell towers except along the freeways. Sprint
>> erects cell sites that are disguised as light poles and also pine trees.
>> Even the disguised cell sites require city council approval here in
>> Laguna Niguel.
>
> I'm sure they do everywhere else too; it's a zoning issue. My point was
> "don't just count the big towers."
>
> --
> JustThe.net - Apple Valley, CA - http://JustThe.net/ - 888.480.4NET (4638)
> Steven J. Sobol, Geek In Charge / [email protected] / PGP: 0xE3AE35ED
>
> "The wisdom of a fool won't set you free"
> --New Order, "Bizarre Love Triangle"

Paul Miner wrote:

> Steve, they should erect "pine trees" around your neck of the woods.
> It might spruce things up a bit. ;-)

And they'd blend in so well with the cacti and Joshua trees.

;p

> (In my military days, I used to visit Victorville now and then.)

Where were you stationed? We have about a gazillion military bases in this
area. There's also a California National Guard outpost about ten minutes from
my house.


--
JustThe.net - Apple Valley, CA - http://JustThe.net/ - 888.480.4NET (4638)
Steven J. Sobol, Geek In Charge / [email protected] / PGP: 0xE3AE35ED

"The wisdom of a fool won't set you free"
--New Order, "Bizarre Love Triangle"

How about a gigantic Joshua Tree cell site? :-)

"Steve Sobol" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Paul Miner wrote:
>
>> Steve, they should erect "pine trees" around your neck of the woods.
>> It might spruce things up a bit. ;-)
>
> And they'd blend in so well with the cacti and Joshua trees.
>
> ;p
>
>> (In my military days, I used to visit Victorville now and then.)
>
> Where were you stationed? We have about a gazillion military bases in this
> area. There's also a California National Guard outpost about ten minutes
> from my house.
>
>
> --
> JustThe.net - Apple Valley, CA - http://JustThe.net/ - 888.480.4NET (4638)
> Steven J. Sobol, Geek In Charge / [email protected] / PGP: 0xE3AE35ED
>
> "The wisdom of a fool won't set you free"
> --New Order, "Bizarre Love Triangle"

Paul Miner wrote:

> I was at Nellis AFB (Las Vegas) from '82 to '88 and used to volunteer
> to make runs every few months down to George AFB to pick up or deliver
> equipment. I was in Electronic Warfare so the trips were to get me out
> of doing real work. No offense, but I never really developed a love
> for the Victorville area. :-)

Ha. George! My mother-in-law works at the school there... of course it's not
George AFB anymore, the base is closed, but Adelanto School District still runs
a middle school and an elementary school on the property. My wife works at
Adelanto Elementary, two mintues away from there.

George is now Southern California Logistics Airport - was supposed to be a big
commercial airport, but due to wrangling between Adelanto and Victorville about
land, it's cargo/small commuter traffic only. (George AFB sits on the border
between the two cities.)

It was kinda stupid - Ontario International is 45 mintues away and on the other
side of the Cajon Pass... LAX is two hours... McCarran International in Vegas
is about two and a half. Could have been a big addition to the Victor Valley
and brought in a lot of business.

Anyhow... This area has to kinda grow on you... no offense taken. I thought I'd
hate moving here from NE Ohio, but I've actually come to like living here.

--
JustThe.net - Apple Valley, CA - http://JustThe.net/ - 888.480.4NET (4638)
Steven J. Sobol, Geek In Charge / [email protected] / PGP: 0xE3AE35ED

"The wisdom of a fool won't set you free"
--New Order, "Bizarre Love Triangle"

Howdy, all. I wanted to give you guys the latest and hopefully final
update on my situation.

I was finally able to convince the Data Support folks that my problem
merited a service ticket, though the deal was sealed only when I noted
that several other Sprint customers have encountered the same issue
here at this address. (They then made me serve up the Sprint phone
numbers of these assorted friends.)

Yesterday was the big day, with an engineer/technician scheduled to
come out and provide a diagnosis. I have to say the local office was
good about staying in contact throughout the day, though there was
minor frustration because at least four different people made the
calls, every time asking me the same stuff I'd already answered for
their colleagues. ("When did the reception suddenly die?" i don't
know, i told y'all it's been bad since i moved in last month. "Give me
the phone numbers of others with this issue." i already did, but here
they are again. "Have you gotten a PRL update?" i told y'all that i
got a brand new phone last week ... ad nauseam.)

Also odd: Two of the staffers said a tech would come to my specific
location, albeit not inside the home itself. But in another round of
left-hand-not-talking-to-right-hand, two other staffers said the
engineer would only be checking out the nearest tower. In the day's
final conversation, I was told that's precisely what happened: a tech
went to the tower, ran some tests, and concluded that nothing was
amiss.

Oddest of all, though, is that I've had a perfectly fine signal since
late yesterday afternoon. My phone is sticking with Sprint's network,
and I haven't had a single dropped call or invisible incoming call
(that I know of). As we speak, I've got three bars, and have even had
a full slate at various times today.

I'm left to wonder if a problem was indeed discovered and fixed, and
that Sprint is reluctant to tell me because they think I'll ask for a
refund from the downtime or something. I don't know.

The whole episode has been variously frustrating and amusing. At this
point, I just hope that my newly resurrected signal is permanent.
Ultimately, I'd rather keep my status as "longtime Sprint customer"
than become "brand-new Cingular user."

Again, thanks again to all respondents here for your information and
commiseration.

DMc

On 1 May 2005 17:16:46 -0700, "Dave Mc" <[email protected]> wrote:

>Five-year Sprint customer here. Moved into a new home recently, in the
>heart of a fairly upscale suburb in a major metropolitan area.
>(Birmingham, in metro Detroit, for those who care to know.)
>
>I've had horrendous reception since moving in, despite no apparent
>physical obstructions and the fact that, well, this is a fairly upscale
>suburb in a major metropolitan area. One would think that in 2005, such
>a setting would not leave a user plagued with 90 percent of incoming
>calls going straight to voice mail, or calls in progress getting
>dropped every two minutes.
>
>Yet that's been the case. I don't keep a landline, and I pay a premium
>price for a premium PCS plan upon which I have long relied for a vast
>majority of my professional work, so it's incredibly frustrating.
>
>Just as I was on the verge of canceling -- and genuinely disappointed
>by the prospect because I've liked Sprint -- I stumbled onto some
>information online that offered a possible solution: enable roaming.
>
>"Roaming," of course, used to be a scary word. But Sprint offers $5
>flat-fee monthly roaming plan. I called retention and told 'em this was
>our final shot; they've waived the $5 fee. The very helpful CSR then
>instructed me to switch my roaming mode (in SETTINGS) from "SPRINT" to
>"AUTOMATIC." (He didn't mention disabling CALL GUARD -- which when
>enabled adds a protection against unwanted roaming -- but I figured
>that's a good idea, so I disabled it.)
>
>All this rambling is leading to a couple of key questions: Am I correct
>in understanding that "AUTOMATIC" allows my phone to access the
>networks of other carriers? And if my recent reception problems have
>indeed been due to a shoddy Sprint signal around here, can this switch
>indeed help?
>
>What I'm also wondering is how exactly it works. I presume the phone,
>even in "AUTOMATIC," defaults to Sprint mode. If so: How, and at what
>point, would it kick in to looking for another network's signal? Would
>the phone simply recognize that I'm about to lose the Sprint signal,
>and thus do what it needs to do to save my call?
>
>I ask because since switching to "AUTOMATIC" I'm still looking at a
>phone with no signal bars showing, yet the "R" that would indicate
>roaming is not being displayed either. I'm just curious if I'm missing
>some essential piece of knowledge about the nature of this "AUTOMATIC"
>business.
>
>Thanks, and pardon the long-windedness.
>DMC