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Ringer Lag - Rings on the other end a few times before ringing Hero

my ringer lag is pretty bad where i don't have to worry about answering, as I miss my calls anyway :)

in all seriousness, has anyone else had such bad delay where it rings on the other end 4 times before your phone actually rings?

Someone in another Sprint HTC Hero thread posted the above.

I've noticed something similar - the phone ringing a couple of times or more on the other end before ringing my phone.

Anyone else experiencing ringer lag?
 
I've read that this can be a Sprint issue as much as a Hero issue. You might try updating your PRL (settings->about phone->system updates->update prl); somebody said it did help a bit but I think it only helps if you are roaming a lot. Your PRL is the Preferred Roaming List, and is the list of carriers your phone will choose when it is roaming. Somebody else said that if your current Sprint tower is overcrowded it will flip you over to roaming behind the scenes but I'm not sure how accurate that is.
 
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That is completely different.

That is the number of times the phone rings before going to voicemail, which is entirely different than a phone being on the network and ringing at the handset. This is not a number of rings to voicemail issue.

This is clearly a handset issue.

Test 2:

I have just called both of my Sprint phones - both ON and connected to the network (voicemail not the issue here) and the results are as follows:

1) Samsung flip phone - 1.25 rings

2) HTC Hero - 3.25 rings

In every case, every test, the HTC Hero is having a delay.

try updating your PRL (settings->about phone->system updates->update prl)

I have updated the PRL at the same time as the firmware update on November 18th.

Each test was conducted after the PRL updates.

.
 
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That is completely different.

That is the number of times the phone rings before going to voicemail,

No it's not. If you read the thread (including the last post) you'd see that there's a setting on CDMA networks that tells the phone how often it should check in with the tower to see if there's an incoming call. They call that the "slot index". The total time interval in seconds is 1.3 * SI + 1.3. You can look at your slot index by opening the dialier and entering ##DATA# (##3282#). When you hit the last pound sign (#) the phone will take over and ask you if you want to view settings or edit them. You need a code from Sprint to edit them but you can look at them on your own. My slot index was 2, so my phone is only checking in every 3.9 (1.3 * 2 + 1.3) seconds.

I was with TMobile for 5 years before I switched to Sprint, and there were times when I would call my dad (who's been on Sprint for a long time) and his phone would only ring once or twice even though I had heard 5 or 6 rings on my end. I don't remember exactly what phone he has; I think it's a Palm Centro.

Now, there also appears to be the issue of Android 1.5 not supporting CDMA natively, and that also appears to have something to do with it. But it is at least partially a Sprint issue.
 
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No it's not. If you read the thread (including the last post) you'd see that there's a setting on CDMA networks that tells the phone how often it should check in with the tower to see if there's an incoming call. They call that the "slot index". The total time interval in seconds is 1.3 * SI + 1.3. You can look at your slot index by opening the dialier and entering ##DATA# (##3282#). When you hit the last pound sign (#) the phone will take over and ask you if you want to view settings or edit them. You need a code from Sprint to edit them but you can look at them on your own. My slot index was 2, so my phone is only checking in every 3.9 (1.3 * 2 + 1.3) seconds.

I was with TMobile for 5 years before I switched to Sprint, and there were times when I would call my dad (who's been on Sprint for a long time) and his phone would only ring once or twice even though I had heard 5 or 6 rings on my end. I don't remember exactly what phone he has; I think it's a Palm Centro.

Now, there also appears to be the issue of Android 1.5 not supporting CDMA natively, and that also appears to have something to do with it. But it is at least partially a Sprint issue.

thanks for the info!

I was the guy who posted on the other forum.

Is the Slot Index something that can be edited with help from Sprint?
 
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I noticed exactly the same issues - in fact sometimes it rings 2 times and by the time I slide down, it already missed the call.

The phone app lag and the phone lag in general doesn't help the situation either - it both delays the time when the Hero rings (you can tell as the lights start to light up and the phone kind of freezes up in preparation to ring) as well as when it's time to answer.

This is all in addition to the latency issue discussed above related to how often the phone checks in with the tower.

For this lag I blame HTC (for slow CPU), Java (for being slow and bloated in general), and Sprint (for cell tower lag).
 
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No it's not. If you read the thread (including the last post) you'd see that there's a setting on CDMA networks that tells the phone how often it should check in with the tower to see if there's an incoming call. They call that the "slot index". The total time interval in seconds is 1.3 * SI + 1.3. You can look at your slot index by opening the dialier and entering ##DATA# (##3282#). When you hit the last pound sign (#) the phone will take over and ask you if you want to view settings or edit them. You need a code from Sprint to edit them but you can look at them on your own. My slot index was 2, so my phone is only checking in every 3.9 (1.3 * 2 + 1.3) seconds.

I was with TMobile for 5 years before I switched to Sprint, and there were times when I would call my dad (who's been on Sprint for a long time) and his phone would only ring once or twice even though I had heard 5 or 6 rings on my end. I don't remember exactly what phone he has; I think it's a Palm Centro.

Now, there also appears to be the issue of Android 1.5 not supporting CDMA natively, and that also appears to have something to do with it. But it is at least partially a Sprint issue.


Ok guys, so thanks to big_z, i was able to research this a bit more. Found some good info out there, all of it essentially saying the same exact thing as to how this process works.

There is a link to the Sprint forums that someone posted, and I forget who, but they get the credit:

Suggestions for Sprint:Time the phone rings before voicemail...

This thread actually breaks it down a little more as well.

I just got off the phone with Sprint Advanced Technical Support. First off, and I'm not going to go in a long rave about this, but I don't want to hear anyone say that they have bad CS. Every call I've made to them has been pleasant and helpful. In this particular case, I actually gave the Technician a lesson (as he was unaware of the slot cycle index info, etc), but he was extremely willing to work with me and experiment to figure this out. He gave me my MSL and we went to work!

Here is what 1 hour on the phone determined. Please take all of this with a grain of salt. My phone is 1 out of thousands out there, and the testing has been limited, so that being said....

After accessing the programming screen using my MSL, we went into the Advanced tab. Sure enough, there was the slot cycle set to '2'. I hit the setting and it brought up a menu to change it between 0-7. At first, for laughs, we set it to 7.....I should preface this by stating that he called my phone to set the benchmark before making any changes, using all kinds of ringtones (custom, short, stock, etc) and i would pick up the phone the first sign of vibration/audio notification. Each time I picked up, his end was on ring 4. After 5 rings, it goes to VM (this is set by Sprint and is not changeable). This kind of proved that it wasn't the ringtone causing the issue.

Anyway, we set it to 7. Based on what I've read (in that Sprint Forum), the equation for the slot cycle is 1.3xSI + 1.3 = time (seconds) that the phone checks the towers for calls. 7SI should have bumped this to 10.4 seconds. I set the SI to 7, saved the changes, the phone rebooted and we tested. Same result. 4 rings on his end when i picked up at the first sign of audio notification.

We then went back and set the SI to 0. We tried this with both a stock ringtone and my custom ringtone. the result was me picking up after his end rang 2 times. NICE!! We gained 2 rings!! I've tested this about 5 times myself, calling my self with my house phone, and the results are consistent. It rings 2 times on my end before the audio/vibration on the Hero. Not too bad. I found another tip on the Sprint Forums *credit to whoever posted it* that if you go to Settings>Sounds and Display>Roaming Alert and uncheck that, the phone won't "check" to see if it's Roaming before each call comes in, thus gaining another half to full ring. With all of this done, I can now say that calling my phone using my house phone, while my cell phone is "sleeping", i will get audio/vibration notification in 1.5-2 rings.

The downside to this is battery life. With the phone checking the towers that much more frequently, there is bound to be a bit of a hit on the battery. How much is yet to be determined. I plan on leaving my SI at 0, at least over the weekend to see what happens. I will get a better feel over the weekend than at work because my signal at work is sketchy, and I've got anywhere from 4 hours (going down to 20% battery) to 8 hours (going down to 80%) battery. At home it's consistent in battery usage. I've read more than one person say that changing the SI to 0 has had a minimal to unnoticeable effect on battery life.

My suggestion to everyone affected by this, would be to politely call Sprint Advanced Technical Support (1.877.345.7895), explain to them the situation (the more technical detail you can give, the more they help...at least in my experience), explain what you'd like to do (via the ##3283# menu, using your MSL). If they don't know what you're talking about (as mine didn't, I basically read the info that I've gathered from the boards) explain it to them. Have them work with you by getting your MSL and follow the steps.

Again, testing has been limited thus far, but the results have all been positive. The guy that was helping me advised that this would probably wear the battery down a bit, and I just told him that a full battery does me no good if I can't answer the phone. He agreed.

Good luck everyone! Report back with results if you can.
 
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ToxicToast,

Thanks for all the details information. We appreciate all your research and taking the time to post.

There's so much information here, so could you provide a simply summary of steps to reduce the number of rings.

we went into the Advanced tab.

What do you mean by "Advance tab"?

if you go to Settings > Sounds and Display > Roaming Alert

and uncheck that, the phone won't "check" to see if it's Roaming before each call comes in, thus gaining another half to full ring.

This is the only step I've seen laid out. I already have this unchecked.

Questions:

Are there any other steps in our handset settings that we can do to decrease the number of rings?

If so, please list the steps.

i.e. in the format of:

Menu --> Settings --> etc.

There's a lot of other technical information listed in your thread. I'm not sure what specific steps can be done, if anything, to imrove this further.

I'm also not sure if some of these can be improved via the handset (i.e. Menu --> Settings --> (perform additional steps)

vs.

what's not handset related.

Are some of the things you've mentioned above only matters that can be set or changed by Sprint Tech support only?

Please distinguish.

If so, please outline the steps of what we should say to Advanced Tech Support should we call them. If we have to call Advanced Tech Support, it would be nice to have a checklist/cheatsheet when talking with them, especially with all these techinical terms.

Please list any other specific steps that we can do, handset or non-handset, the steps, and pro's and con's (i.e. battery life) if any such steps are applicable. Thank you again for your diligence in this matter.

.
 
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ToxicToast,

Thanks for all the details information. We appreciate all your research and taking the time to post.

There's so much information here, so could you provide a simply summary of steps to reduce the number of rings.



What do you mean by "Advance tab"?



This is the only step I've seen laid out. I already have this unchecked.

Questions:

Are there any other steps in our handset settings that we can do to decrease the number of rings?

If so, please list the steps.

i.e. in the format of:

Menu --> Settings --> etc.

There's a lot of other technical information listed in your thread. I'm not sure what specific steps can be done, if anything, to imrove this further.

I'm also not sure if some of these can be improved via the handset (i.e. Menu --> Settings --> (perform additional steps)

vs.

what's not handset related.

Please distinguish.

Please list any other specific steps that we can do, handset or non-handset, the steps, and pro's and con's (i.e. battery life) if any such steps are applicable. Thank you again for your diligence in this matter.

.

haha, yea, sometimes I get a little scatterbrained :)

Basically, here are the steps:

1. make sure you have a grasp on what the actual issue is and what is causing the lag (read the post I quoted by big_z).

2. Call Sprint Advanced Technical Service (the number is in my previous post) and explain to them that you would like to change your Slot Index Cycle from '2' to either '1' or '0'. This is done by going to the phone dialpad and typing in ##3282#. After you hit the last '#' symbol, it's going to say "initializing" and it's going to want to know if you want to go into "view mode" or "edit mode". You want to get into "edit mode", and here is where you need the help of Sprint Support. if you hit "edit mode", it asks for a password, this is your MSL number, which you must get from the Sprint representative. Once you have this, you go to the "Advance" tab in the "edit mode". scroll down to Slot Index Cycle (it's going to be set to '2)...tap it and change it to '0'. Once back in the "edit menu" hit the hard button menu button (next to the trackball) to bring up the save option to save your new settings. This will save and reboot the phone (no, you won't lose anything, it's just a soft reboot).

Once you've done this, you're good to go. The only other option that I changed was the Roaming Alert (which you've said you already have unchecked). These steps have helped big time.

The only thing you need from the Sprint Rep when you call, is your MSL number, but you have to have them help you through the steps, because they won't just give you your MSL number if you ask for it. As long as you sound like you know what you're doing, they'll help.

If you are still confused, just ask and I'll try to explain again.
 
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.

Perhaps I can try to bullet this:

* Call Sprint

* Ask for "Advanced Technical Service"

* Explain to them that you would like to change your Slot Index Cycle from '2' to either '1' or '0'

* Go to the phone dialpad and type in ##3282#

* After you hit the last '#' symbol, it's going to say "initializing"

* Next, it's going to want to know if you want to go into "view mode" or "edit mode"


Next steps require here the help of Sprint Support:


* Select "edit mode"

* It asks for a password

* Enter MSL number (must get from the Sprint representative)

* Go to the "Advance" tab in the "edit mode"

* Scroll down to Slot Index Cycle (it's going to be set to '2)

* Tap it and change it to '0'

* Once back in the "edit menu" hit the hard button menu button (next to the trackball) to bring up the save option to save your new settings

* This will save and reboot the phone

The only thing you need from the Sprint Rep when you call, is your MSL number, but you have to have them help you through the steps, because they won't just give you your MSL number if you ask for it.

Change Roaming Alert (step described above)

I think that about covers it?

.
 
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.

Perhaps I can try to bullet this:

* Call Sprint

* Ask for "Advanced Technical Service"

* Explain to them that you would like to change your Slot Index Cycle from '2' to either '1' or '0'

* Go to the phone dialpad and type in ##3282#

* After you hit the last '#' symbol, it's going to say "initializing"

* Next, it's going to want to know if you want to go into "view mode" or "edit mode"


Next steps require here the help of Sprint Support:


* Select "edit mode"

* It asks for a password

* Enter MSL number (must get from the Sprint representative)

* Go to the "Advance" tab in the "edit mode"

* Scroll down to Slot Index Cycle (it's going to be set to '2)

* Tap it and change it to '0'

* Once back in the "edit menu" hit the hard button menu button (next to the trackball) to bring up the save option to save your new settings

* This will save and reboot the phone

The only thing you need from the Sprint Rep when you call, is your MSL number, but you have to have them help you through the steps, because they won't just give you your MSL number if you ask for it.

Change Roaming Alert (step described above)

I think that about covers it?

.

you bet!

Lemme know how it works out for you.
 
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Question:

Can I do this in the local Sprint store?

I printed out this cheat sheet. Maybe I can do this there?


I do believe you can, however, my personal experience at Sprint Stores usually consist of long waits. Not sure how crowded the one by you gets, but the one by my house is awful. You can usually get through to Tech Support on the phone really quickly (especially using the number i left in the earlier post), but it's your call.
 
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just wanted to follow up to see if you had a chance to do this.

I've tried it a few more times today using my house phone to call my cell phone and I'm still getting the same improved results.

This weekend is going to be the test to see how much battery the additional frequency of checking actually uses. I took it off the charger at 9:30 am CT....so we'll see.
 
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Just wanted to give an update for anyone who's interested.

I checked the ring lag situation a few more times by calling myself. same results. 2 rings on the caller end and my Hero rang. Nice!

Battery life does not seem to be affected at all, at least in my situation. I unplugged it around 9:30 am yesterday afternoon and by 4:30 pm (7 hours) I still had about 70% battery left. WOOHOO!
 
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Anyway, we set it to 7. Based on what I've read (in that Sprint Forum), the equation for the slot cycle is 1.3xSI + 1.3 = time (seconds) that the phone checks the towers for calls. 7SI should have bumped this to 10.4 seconds. I set the SI to 7, saved the changes, the phone rebooted and we tested. Same result. 4 rings on his end when i picked up at the first sign of audio notification.

From the Sprint forum, I also read that there's actually 2 slot cycle settings, one at the phone level and another at the network level. Whichever one is lower is the one that "wins". So it's possible that the network slot cycle setting was overriding the super high setting from your phone, which would explain why you got the same results setting your phone to 2 and to 7.
 
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From the Sprint forum, I also read that there's actually 2 slot cycle settings, one at the phone level and another at the network level. Whichever one is lower is the one that "wins". So it's possible that the network slot cycle setting was overriding the super high setting from your phone, which would explain why you got the same results setting your phone to 2 and to 7.

I did catch that too, however, I didn't feel like explaining what I thought was happening to the tech who was assisting me. So far though, the setting of '0' is working out for me.

Thanks for all your initial info!
 
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