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- 12-28-2003, 12:10 PM #1Johannes EggersGuest
Why Sprint Sucks:
=============
A few years ago I bought a $200 (or $300 ?) PDA (Kyocera QCP 6035
Smartphone) with Sprint PCS and a 2 year agreement. The other day I wanted
to start faxing with it (using a PC hooked in through the serial cable), but
no joy, the phone would 'hang' after the first fax, the built-in modem
wouldn't respond until I turned the phone off and on again. So I decided to
go to use my wife's Samsung M-100 (Uproar) also with Sprint PCS. It needed
a PCS Connection Kit which you can no longer buy from Sprint ('... the phone
is too old') or their stores. So Sprint de-supports phones after about 2
years, which sucks.
Others allegedly got it to work with the QCP6035 so I go to my local Sprint
store to get a firmware upgrade. This is a Handset Service center (not just
a sales outlet). The service person told me they don't have the cables to
upgrade the phone. I said fine, I have the cables in the car. I go get the
cables, then she tells me it's not the right cable. I told her that it may
be different but it can still be used to re-program the phone, that I had
confirmed this with Kyocera and that I had run the Kyocera-official
phone-software myself and it was recognizing the phone just fine. Then they
told me they couldn't take customers cables into the back ('we can't be
responsible for customers cables) to reprogram the phone. I asked them to
give me the unlock-code so I could re-program it myself, and they told me
I'd have to ring the Sprint custoemr service number. I did, they told me
they wouldn't give it to me and asked me to put the store-person on the
phone. That's when the store-person realized they had some other cable that
might work, took my phone into the back and returned a minute later to tell
me that it didn't work, there must be some 'corrosion on the contacts'...
What a load of bull****, I was reading and syncing the phone just fine. I
suggested AGAIN that maybe their cable wasn't the correct one and that they
should use my cables or give me the unlock-code. Again, they declined.
After a number of calls to Sprint PCS customer services and being on hold
for well over 30 minutes for PDA support (I gave up after about half an
hour) I took one phone off the plan and downgraded to a $40/month plan. I
will give Sprint PCS one more opportunity to rectify this, and if they don't
then I'll cancel my service and if there's an early termination fee then
that's their tough luck because they are not getting it from me.
In general so, it's worthwhile NOT to spend big bucks on a PCS phone, so if
you HAVE to take Sprint PCS then get one of the free / cheap ones that
doesn't require a long-term commitment. Also, avoid the Sprint PCS Store in
The Woodlands, TX, unless you have masochistic tendencies.
Alternatives to Sprint PCS
==================
Anyhow, I still needed a fax-capable phone, so I drove around a while.
Verizon first, their rate-plans sucked. On to Cingular, they said they
don't support data or fax through their phones. I can't believe that, but
if the Cingular guy is clueless then that's their problem. Next to AT&T.
They said they support it, they have reasonable rate-plans, but weren't that
knowledgable, but very helpful. Finally, I ended up in Car Toys. They sell
all sorts of phones and plans from various providers, probably should have
gone in there first, for the side-by-side comparison. I got suckered-in (in
a good way) by T-Mobile (Disclaimer: I own a very small amount of Deutsche
Telekom stock, parent of T-Mobile) who lots of free phones with 1-year
agreements, including the Ericsson T610 (Camera Phone with Infrared,
Bluetooth, GSM etc). Now, none of the Car Toys people are very techy, and
you wouldn't expect that, but luckily the T-Mobile rep was dropping by. He
wasn't supertechy either, but made a few calls and said I could make data
and fax calls through the phone, and if I was having problems to dial
support or set up a meeting with him in the store next week, when I could
bring my notebook with me. So I opt for a 3000 minute for $49 a month plan,
and get the Ericsson T610 free after mail-in-rebates. I declined the
car-toys loss/replacement warranty and was out of there.
Data and Fax through Ericsson T610 with T-Mobile
===================================
OK, so I get home with my T610. Forgot to buy the data-cable (turns out
nobody stocks it, it's special order), don't have bluetooth but my PC was
Infrared capable after a few mods. After installing the drivers and mucking
with Win 2000 Infrared settings for a while, I get the PC to recognize the
T610 as an Infrared modem. It automatically got added to the Fax Service,
so I open Notepad and try to print something to the fax printer. No joy,
the phone appears to dial the number but immediately hangs up, before the
call even goes through. I place a call with support, they promise a
call-back next day beause their data-specialists have left for the day (I
called saturday afternoon, 2 days after Xmas). Note: I was never on hold
for more than a minute, I never talked to a stupid robot like you do with
Sprint, and even though some of the calls obvioulsy ended up in an asian
outsourced support department, the people were quick, courteous, spoke
decent english and, most importantly, they immediately handed me off to the
next tier specialists when they realized they couldn't deal with the issue.
Points there to T-Mobile for what appeared to be good phone support.
Next day, I muck a bit more with the phone, and I realize that I can make
data calls without problems, but Fax just doesn't work. I tried the
following AT command sequence:
ATZV1Q0
ATDT....
works fine.
ATZV1Q0
AT+FCLASS=0
ATDT...
works fine, too but if the FCLASS is changed to 1 or 2 (supported by T610)
then the call doesn't go through. So data is OK, fax aint.
I call them early in the morning(sunday), no wait time, real person answers.
Takes my T-Mobile number, name, quickly transfers me to a spcialist who
transfers me to another specialist. I did NOT get asked my details
over-and-over again, and each of the people who transfered me did so
quickly. Couldn't have been more than a minute before I spoke to the 2nd
specialist. MORE POINTS for T-Mobile support. The 2nd specialist quickly
realizes what's wrong: To do FAX I need a special plan add-on (which would
also give me a fax-number for the phone). She tried to show me that on
their T-Mobile web-page but she said she couldn't find it any more (neither
could I). Seems that T-Mobile doesn't really try to sell this or inform
people that it's available. Some points deducted. She said the plan would
cost $9.99 per month, and there was no data/fax limit, it would just come
from my 3000 monthly plan minutes. Some points deducted because (a) it
wasn't on their website, (b) the T-mobile rep didn't know about it and (c)
it costs $10/month. So anyhow, I was still within 14 days of getting the
phone, and I had the option of returning it if I wanted to. I decided
against it and asked the specialist to transfer me to whoever could add this
feature to my plan. She said she could do it there, could take up to 2
hours, and I'd get a text-message when it's done with the fax-number. BONUS
POINTS: She didn't have to transfer me to someone, she just did it there and
then. A few minutes later I had a text-message with my fax number, and my
fax service was enabled. I tested it (sending only, didn't try receiving)
and it worked just fine.
To summarize:
==========
Sprint Sales: OK, slightly clueless, reasonably helpful.
T-Mobile Sales: OK, slightly clueless, reasonably helpful
Sprint Tech Support: Definitely sucks, long hold-times, clueless people that
don't know their limitations, never resolved issue.
T-Mobile Tech Support: Rocks, very short hold-times, ask customer details
just once, transfers to next-tier specialists when tech doesn't know answer.
Issue resolved.
Sprint Customer Service in general: Sucks, REFUSED to upgrade phone, REFUSED
to give programming-code so I could do it myself. DE-SUPPORT phones quickly
so they can up-sell you to a later model.
T-Mobile Customer Service: Quick, integrated
Sprint Data/Fax capability: Virtually none, stopped selling connectivity
kits so the only connectivity you can get is internet/Vision, not 'dialup'
data or fax. Current phone models do not support data/fax other than
internet, except MAYB E for their $500 top-end-model PDA klunker phone.
Will refuse to software-update a phone they sold you.
T-Mobile Data/Fax capability: Data out-of-box, fax for a surcharge (gives
separate fax number)
Last but not least, I could have returned my T-Mobile phone (14 days) and
tried AT&T, maybe they don't charge extra for fax-capabilities. Why didn't
I ? Three reasons:
1.) I assume that they DO charge for it
2.) Even if they don't, they have no comparable plan (3000 anytime for $50)
3.) Most importantly: I was so impressed with the customer-support from
T-Mobile, I didn't expect to find better anywhere else.
› See More: Faxing and Data through Cellphone: Why Sprint PCS sucks and T-Mobile rocks
- 12-30-2003, 11:47 AM #2Todd AllcockGuest
Re: Faxing and Data through Cellphone: Why Sprint PCS sucks and T-Mobile rocks
"Johannes Eggers" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> To summarize:
> ==========
> Last but not least, I could have returned my T-Mobile phone (14 days) and
> tried AT&T, maybe they don't charge extra for fax-capabilities. Why
didn't
> I ? Three reasons:
> 1.) I assume that they DO charge for it
> 2.) Even if they don't, they have no comparable plan (3000 anytime for
$50)
> 3.) Most importantly: I was so impressed with the customer-support from
> T-Mobile, I didn't expect to find better anywhere else.
I agree wholheartedly about T-Mo support. They trey harder than anybody.
Just to let you know, there's no faxing from AT&T, AFAIK- their only
connectivity is GPRS- you can't make data/fax calls to the number of your
choice via CSD like with T-Mo or Cingular.
Cingular, however, allows faxing, AFAIK it's included with their GSM
service, and is part of the $3.99/month "wireless internet" data
connectivity option with TDMA.
- 12-30-2003, 06:43 PM #3Bruce MarkowitzGuest
Re: Faxing and Data through Cellphone: Why Sprint PCS sucks and T-Mobile rocks
es, but how do you fax from T-Mo????
I can't get any fax program to dial the phone (using the AirCard OR
the IR on the Samsung E105)
On Tue, 30 Dec 2003 17:47:56 GMT, "Todd Allcock" <[email protected]>
wrote:
>
>"Johannes Eggers" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>news:[email protected]...
>> To summarize:
>> ==========
>
>
>> Last but not least, I could have returned my T-Mobile phone (14 days) and
>> tried AT&T, maybe they don't charge extra for fax-capabilities. Why
>didn't
>> I ? Three reasons:
>> 1.) I assume that they DO charge for it
>> 2.) Even if they don't, they have no comparable plan (3000 anytime for
>$50)
>> 3.) Most importantly: I was so impressed with the customer-support from
>> T-Mobile, I didn't expect to find better anywhere else.
>
>I agree wholheartedly about T-Mo support. They trey harder than anybody.
>
>Just to let you know, there's no faxing from AT&T, AFAIK- their only
>connectivity is GPRS- you can't make data/fax calls to the number of your
>choice via CSD like with T-Mo or Cingular.
>
>Cingular, however, allows faxing, AFAIK it's included with their GSM
>service, and is part of the $3.99/month "wireless internet" data
>connectivity option with TDMA.
>
>
>
>
- 12-31-2003, 02:00 AM #4O/SirisGuest
Re: Faxing and Data through Cellphone: Why Sprint PCS sucks and T-Mobile rocks
In article <[email protected]>,=20
Bruce [email protected] says...
> es, but how do you fax from T-Mo????
> I can't get any fax program to dial the phone (using the AirCard OR
> the IR on the Samsung E105)
>=20
I hope I don't insult your intelligence with this, but=20
you've set it NOT to expect a dialtone, right?
--=20
-+-
R=D8=DF
O/Siris
I work for SprintPCS
I *don't* speak for them.
- 12-31-2003, 03:14 AM #5Peter PanGuest
Re: Faxing and Data through Cellphone: Why Sprint PCS sucks and T-Mobile rocks
Bruce [email protected] says...
> es, but how do you fax from T-Mo????
> I can't get any fax program to dial the phone (using the AirCard OR
> the IR on the Samsung E105)
>
Borrow a friends Verizon phone and it works just fine
- 01-01-2004, 12:01 AM #6Todd AllcockGuest
Re: Faxing and Data through Cellphone: Why Sprint PCS sucks and T-Mobile rocks
"Bruce Markowitz" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> es, but how do you fax from T-Mo????
> I can't get any fax program to dial the phone (using the AirCard OR
> the IR on the Samsung E105)
I don't pay for faxing from T-Mo, but when I had faxing capability on
Cingular with my old trusty Nokia 7160 (via IR or datacable) I had to try a
bunch of fax programs before I found one that worked with no dialtone
present. IIRC, the one that worked was a shareware thing (that I probably
got from Tucows) called "MightyFax" (or something like that.)
I receive a lot more than I send, so I generally just use fax-e-mail
gateways for receive (www.faxwave.com) and wait until I'm near a landline to
send.
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