Firmware updates for sprint cell phones, need to be done locally?

I am not sure how the sprint network works. I have sprint service and
I was told to bring in my phone every 6 months or so to get a firmware
update, to improve service & reception.
I travel often throughout the U.S. Does this update need to be done
locally in my home town, where the firmware update relates to local
information about the network?

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› See More: Firmware updates for sprint cell phones, need to be done locally?

Unless their is an issue with your phone (such as Locking up, freezing)
then no you really don't. The idea is to constantly update your PRL
(which selects analog roaming signals). This is designed to save Sprint
( and by extention you, in theroy anyway) money by not paying more for
roaming.

[email protected] (Joe Blo) wrote in article
<[email protected]>:
> I am not sure how the sprint network works. I have sprint service and
> I was told to bring in my phone every 6 months or so to get a firmware
> update, to improve service & reception.
> I travel often throughout the U.S. Does this update need to be done
> locally in my home town, where the firmware update relates to local
> information about the network?

[posted via phonescoop.com]

"Joe Blo" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I am not sure how the sprint network works. I have sprint service and
> I was told to bring in my phone every 6 months or so to get a firmware
> update, to improve service & reception.
> I travel often throughout the U.S. Does this update need to be done
> locally in my home town, where the firmware update relates to local
> information about the network?

Unless you have a reason (such as a bug fix, or a new feature) to think your
phone needs a software upgrade, then no, do not bring your phone into the
store for an upgrade. What they were probably referring to is a PRL
(preferred roaming list), which tells your phone who the preffered roaming
provider is for any given area (whether it be analog or digital ... it is
based upon the SID of the connecting tower and provider). You can get your
PRL updated over-the-air by calling *2 and asking for a PRL update.

Tom Veldhouse

This is an interesting question. When I got my first 4900 in Dec 2002,
would miss calls, badly, took in to store, said it needed new software
or whatever. Some how they destroyed the phone, and gave me a new one,
which has since worked great.

My question, I have never been told this by anyone, other that learning
it from these posts--since there are maybe less than a posters what the
other 19 million users--how do they know. Also, I am not a big fan of
just dropping into a Sprint store (or other) to wait for an hour to have
this done, without a great expectation of big service improvement---

How many others, go in regularly, for updates, and how did you know to
go in, etc.. Is it really necessary in most cases.

Can you imagine the lines at the stores if only 10% of the 19 mil tried
to have this done?

[email protected] (Joe Blo) wrote in article
<[email protected]>:
> I am not sure how the sprint network works. I have sprint service and
> I was told to bring in my phone every 6 months or so to get a firmware
> update, to improve service & reception.
> I travel often throughout the U.S. Does this update need to be done
> locally in my home town, where the firmware update relates to local
> information about the network?

[posted via phonescoop.com]

Well hopefully if things go good with the new thing from motorola,
hopefully other manufacturers will adopt the practice..

Here is a clip of the article:


-- Motorola and Bitfone Corporation today announced that the two
companies have signed a global agreement for the deployment of Bitfone's
over-the-air (OTA) firmware update solution, mProve™. Motorola will use
mProve 3.0 to update the core embedded software on mobile devices over
the air. The feature, to be available in Motorola phones planned for
2004, will allow customers to receive complete firmware updates from
their wireless carrier, or Motorola directly, with a simple phone call.

Like I said hopefully other manufactueres like Sanyo and samsung, etc..
will follow this path. No more waiting in stores.

--
SAVE YOUR BREATH....

You'll need it to blow up your date.


[email protected] (p lane) wrote in article
<[email protected]>:
> This is an interesting question. When I got my first 4900 in Dec 2002,
> would miss calls, badly, took in to store, said it needed new software
> or whatever. Some how they destroyed the phone, and gave me a new one,
> which has since worked great.
>
> My question, I have never been told this by anyone, other that learning
> it from these posts--since there are maybe less than a posters what the
> other 19 million users--how do they know. Also, I am not a big fan of
> just dropping into a Sprint store (or other) to wait for an hour to have
> this done, without a great expectation of big service improvement---
>
> How many others, go in regularly, for updates, and how did you know to
> go in, etc.. Is it really necessary in most cases.
>
> Can you imagine the lines at the stores if only 10% of the 19 mil tried
> to have this done?
>
> [email protected] (Joe Blo) wrote in article
> <[email protected]>:
> > I am not sure how the sprint network works. I have sprint service and
> > I was told to bring in my phone every 6 months or so to get a firmware
> > update, to improve service & reception.
> > I travel often throughout the U.S. Does this update need to be done
> > locally in my home town, where the firmware update relates to local
> > information about the network?
>
> [posted via phonescoop.com]

[posted via phonescoop.com]

Some models of phone may never have a software update. PRL
updates are another matter. They used to be quite frequent a few years
ago, so the every 6 months was a good interval to check. However they
are much further apart these days. So either watch for notices on this
news group or check with *2 before going on a major trip or about once a
year, or just after buying a new phone. Who knows how long ago it came
off the production line. There may have been a new PRL issued since then.

Joe Blo wrote:

> I am not sure how the sprint network works. I have sprint service and
> I was told to bring in my phone every 6 months or so to get a firmware
> update, to improve service & reception.
> I travel often throughout the U.S. Does this update need to be done
> locally in my home town, where the firmware update relates to local
> information about the network?

I've seen the lines...and they are long. Where I worked the management
decided to consolidate the "angry" customers at two "select" service
centers. That was a tremendous mistake. As for the 4900 getting
destroyed that was not unusual when the phone first launched ( I know I
killed my share) but did eventually get better. The Software back then
fixed the mis-matched MDN/MSID pair for WLNP.

[email protected] (p lane) wrote in article
<[email protected]>:
> This is an interesting question. When I got my first 4900 in Dec 2002,
> would miss calls, badly, took in to store, said it needed new software
> or whatever. Some how they destroyed the phone, and gave me a new one,
> which has since worked great.
>
> My question, I have never been told this by anyone, other that learning
> it from these posts--since there are maybe less than a posters what the
> other 19 million users--how do they know. Also, I am not a big fan of
> just dropping into a Sprint store (or other) to wait for an hour to have
> this done, without a great expectation of big service improvement---
>
> How many others, go in regularly, for updates, and how did you know to
> go in, etc.. Is it really necessary in most cases.
>
> Can you imagine the lines at the stores if only 10% of the 19 mil tried
> to have this done?
>
> [email protected] (Joe Blo) wrote in article
> <[email protected]>:
> > I am not sure how the sprint network works. I have sprint service and
> > I was told to bring in my phone every 6 months or so to get a firmware
> > update, to improve service & reception.
> > I travel often throughout the U.S. Does this update need to be done
> > locally in my home town, where the firmware update relates to local
> > information about the network?
>
> [posted via phonescoop.com]

[posted via phonescoop.com]

"Joe Blo" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I am not sure how the sprint network works. I have sprint service
and
> I was told to bring in my phone every 6 months or so to get a
firmware
> update, to improve service & reception.
> I travel often throughout the U.S. Does this update need to be done
> locally in my home town, where the firmware update relates to local
> information about the network?

As everyone mentioned Techman, unless you are having a problem with
your phone, you shouldn't need a Firmware upgrade. PRL versions are
upgraded every 6 months or so, and it is a wise idea to get that
upgraded. You can do that by either going to the store or via OTA -
Over The Air, by calling *2.

BTW, you didn't mention which phone you have, or the Firmware or PRL
version that's currently loaded. You can check out whether your phone
has the most recent versions by checking out this URL -
http://tinyurl.com/lq7x

Bob