Sprint Roaming on Verizon

A friend has a Sprint Phone and he has told me that sometimes it roams on
Verizon in analog mode (AMPS) when there is no Sprint service available in
the area. Since Verizon CDMA is available, why is the phone roaming on
Verizon AMPS? It does not make sense to me. It seems that the phone should
see the digital CDMA signal and use it rather that switching to analog mode.

-mij

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› See More: Sprint Roaming on Verizon

Mij Adyaw wrote:
> A friend has a Sprint Phone and he has told me that sometimes it roams on
> Verizon in analog mode (AMPS) when there is no Sprint service available in
> the area. Since Verizon CDMA is available, why is the phone roaming on
> Verizon AMPS? It does not make sense to me. It seems that the phone should
> see the digital CDMA signal and use it rather that switching to analog mode.
>
> -mij

Sprint used to only do analog roaming even on compatible digital carriers. The
theory I've heard is that it was to discredit the other companies by pointing
out that when you roam on their networks, you had an analog signal that was
inferior to their digital signal (this was back when they started marketing
their PCS service). They are now doing digital roaming in some places, and I
imagine they'll have to add more and more as other carriers stop upgrading
analog networks, but right now in Southern California, you roam analog where
there's no Sprint signal (I'm told it's on Verizon).

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

"In case anyone was wondering, that big glowing globe above the Victor
Valley is the sun." -Victorville _Daily Press_ on the unusually large
amount of rain the Southland has gotten this winter (January 12th, 2005)

Analog roaming really sucks because of the privacy issue. Anyone with a
modified Radio Shack scanner can receive analog cell phone conversations.
Also, analog roaming drains the battery at 4 to 5 times the normal rate and
therefore you will have much less talk time. It is really sad that Sprint
will not roam over Verizon in digital mode. I wonder if there is some phone
hack to force this?

-mij

"Steve Sobol" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Mij Adyaw wrote:
>> A friend has a Sprint Phone and he has told me that sometimes it roams on
>> Verizon in analog mode (AMPS) when there is no Sprint service available
>> in the area. Since Verizon CDMA is available, why is the phone roaming on
>> Verizon AMPS? It does not make sense to me. It seems that the phone
>> should see the digital CDMA signal and use it rather that switching to
>> analog mode.
>>
>> -mij
>
> Sprint used to only do analog roaming even on compatible digital carriers.
> The theory I've heard is that it was to discredit the other companies by
> pointing out that when you roam on their networks, you had an analog
> signal that was inferior to their digital signal (this was back when they
> started marketing their PCS service). They are now doing digital roaming
> in some places, and I imagine they'll have to add more and more as other
> carriers stop upgrading analog networks, but right now in Southern
> California, you roam analog where there's no Sprint signal (I'm told it's
> on Verizon).
>
> --
> JustThe.net - Apple Valley, CA - http://JustThe.net/ - 888.480.4NET (4638)
> Steven J. Sobol, Geek In Charge / [email protected] / PGP: 0xE3AE35ED
>
> "In case anyone was wondering, that big glowing globe above the Victor
> Valley is the sun." -Victorville _Daily Press_ on the unusually large
> amount of rain the Southland has gotten this winter (January 12th, 2005)

Were I live Sprint does have any coverage out of town or off the interstate.
When I roam its always Digital roam. It will sometimes go analog for a few
minutes but then goes digital. I roam on Cellular one not Verizon.


"Mij Adyaw" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:rA3Ud.89067$bu.63355@fed1read06...
> Analog roaming really sucks because of the privacy issue. Anyone with a
> modified Radio Shack scanner can receive analog cell phone conversations.
> Also, analog roaming drains the battery at 4 to 5 times the normal rate
> and therefore you will have much less talk time. It is really sad that
> Sprint will not roam over Verizon in digital mode. I wonder if there is
> some phone hack to force this?
>
> -mij
>
> "Steve Sobol" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>> Mij Adyaw wrote:
>>> A friend has a Sprint Phone and he has told me that sometimes it roams
>>> on Verizon in analog mode (AMPS) when there is no Sprint service
>>> available in the area. Since Verizon CDMA is available, why is the phone
>>> roaming on Verizon AMPS? It does not make sense to me. It seems that the
>>> phone should see the digital CDMA signal and use it rather that
>>> switching to analog mode.
>>>
>>> -mij
>>
>> Sprint used to only do analog roaming even on compatible digital
>> carriers. The theory I've heard is that it was to discredit the other
>> companies by pointing out that when you roam on their networks, you had
>> an analog signal that was inferior to their digital signal (this was back
>> when they started marketing their PCS service). They are now doing
>> digital roaming in some places, and I imagine they'll have to add more
>> and more as other carriers stop upgrading analog networks, but right now
>> in Southern California, you roam analog where there's no Sprint signal
>> (I'm told it's on Verizon).
>>
>> --
>> JustThe.net - Apple Valley, CA - http://JustThe.net/ - 888.480.4NET
>> (4638)
>> Steven J. Sobol, Geek In Charge / [email protected] / PGP: 0xE3AE35ED
>>
>> "In case anyone was wondering, that big glowing globe above the Victor
>> Valley is the sun." -Victorville _Daily Press_ on the unusually large
>> amount of rain the Southland has gotten this winter (January 12th, 2005)
>
>

I have a Treo650 which is digital only and pay the $5/month for roaming.

When I roam here in upstate New York, it is digitally on Verizon's
network.

In article <rA3Ud.89067$bu.63355@fed1read06>, [email protected]
says...
> Analog roaming really sucks because of the privacy issue. Anyone with a
> modified Radio Shack scanner can receive analog cell phone conversations.
> Also, analog roaming drains the battery at 4 to 5 times the normal rate and
> therefore you will have much less talk time. It is really sad that Sprint
> will not roam over Verizon in digital mode. I wonder if there is some phone
> hack to force this?
>
> -mij
>
> "Steve Sobol" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > Mij Adyaw wrote:
> >> A friend has a Sprint Phone and he has told me that sometimes it roams on
> >> Verizon in analog mode (AMPS) when there is no Sprint service available
> >> in the area. Since Verizon CDMA is available, why is the phone roaming on
> >> Verizon AMPS? It does not make sense to me. It seems that the phone
> >> should see the digital CDMA signal and use it rather that switching to
> >> analog mode.
> >>
> >> -mij
> >
> > Sprint used to only do analog roaming even on compatible digital carriers.
> > The theory I've heard is that it was to discredit the other companies by
> > pointing out that when you roam on their networks, you had an analog
> > signal that was inferior to their digital signal (this was back when they
> > started marketing their PCS service). They are now doing digital roaming
> > in some places, and I imagine they'll have to add more and more as other
> > carriers stop upgrading analog networks, but right now in Southern
> > California, you roam analog where there's no Sprint signal (I'm told it's
> > on Verizon).
> >
> > --
> > JustThe.net - Apple Valley, CA - http://JustThe.net/ - 888.480.4NET (4638)
> > Steven J. Sobol, Geek In Charge / [email protected] / PGP: 0xE3AE35ED
> >
> > "In case anyone was wondering, that big glowing globe above the Victor
> > Valley is the sun." -Victorville _Daily Press_ on the unusually large
> > amount of rain the Southland has gotten this winter (January 12th, 2005)
>
>
>

Does your friend keep his phone's PRL up to date? PRL's 10024 and 10025
added much more digital roaming and changed the priority in many
roaming situations to prefere digital roaming over analog. If your
friend's phone has a PRL older than 10024, it is likely to prefer
analog. Look thru the phone's menus for a 'display...version' or 'phone
info' menu item that shows the PRL version. See the recent thread
called "Downloading PRL" for info on how to update a phone's PRL.

Mij Adyaw wrote:
> A friend has a Sprint Phone and he has told me that sometimes it roams on
> Verizon in analog mode (AMPS) when there is no Sprint service available in
> the area. Since Verizon CDMA is available, why is the phone roaming on
> Verizon AMPS? It does not make sense to me. It seems that the phone should
> see the digital CDMA signal and use it rather that switching to analog mode.
>
> -mij
>
>
>


--
Frank Harris in San Francisco

On Fri, 25 Feb 2005 17:38:47 -0800, Mij Adyaw wrote:

> A friend has a Sprint Phone and he has told me that sometimes it roams on
> Verizon in analog mode (AMPS) when there is no Sprint service available in
> the area. Since Verizon CDMA is available, why is the phone roaming on
> Verizon AMPS? It does not make sense to me. It seems that the phone should
> see the digital CDMA signal and use it rather that switching to analog mode.
>
> -mij

To roam on Verizon's CDMA network you need two things, A phone capable of
digital roaming at 800mhz CDMA and a prl entry for that network. Your
friend probably does not have a tri-band phone and is only capable of
analog roaming on AMPS at 800mhz and digital roaming on 1900mhz CDMA. Keep
in mind Verizon's native network is almost always 800mhz CDMA while
SprintPCS' network is 1900mhz CDMA.

Tom85 wrote:
> Were I live Sprint does have any coverage out of town or off the interstate.
> When I roam its always Digital roam. It will sometimes go analog for a few
> minutes but then goes digital. I roam on Cellular one not Verizon.

Ahhh. That will work on the CellularONE networks that are CDMA. (Some are; some
are TDMA/GSM, depending on which company owns the C1 network you're roaming on.)

Personally, I'm hoping that they will eventually go completely digital except
perhaps in rural areas where there are no carriers that have digital...

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

"In case anyone was wondering, that big glowing globe above the Victor
Valley is the sun." -Victorville _Daily Press_ on the unusually large
amount of rain the Southland has gotten this winter (January 12th, 2005)

Maybe verizon charges more for digital roaming than amps roaming.