Help "roam-only" capability

[ibchilling]

Before the Hero I owned the Pre. The Pre has a hack where you can force the phone to roam. (My understanding is that most phones come with this functionality, but sprint disables it). It was really nice for places where the Sprint signal was just strong enough to keep the phone from roaming onto Verizon's network, but not strong enough to be useful. Now that the Hero has been rooted, does any one have any ideas on how such a program might be written, and an interest in writing one? I have zero programming experience, and would have no idea how to start. It's an amazingly useful feature to have.
Thanks

 

[Spunkzz]

I'm also very interested in a roam only option I hope someone can figure it out.

 

[Quicksand Jesus]

Bump for the same. I just replace my Treo 800w which had a roaming only mode. And it had a roaming only mode without any "hacks" or "tweaks".

 

[tatonka_Hero]

not a bad idea...and it would be REALLY nice for me, where Verizon's signal comes through the hills around my house better than Sprint's does (from the same tower, oddly enough).

 

[badkulo]

I would love to have this feature as well!

 

[ned23]

I am also looking for this option for Moment M900. Will pay for such an app, $20 or so, if necessary.

 

[MrGreg]

Bump. Anyone hear about any progress being made towards a roam-only option? I want to get a Hero, but I can't get a Sprint signal in my office. I may have to go with the Pre...

 

[berrabus]

Im using the Moment currently and I am hoping to GOD that someone devs a roaming only toggle. However if you too have a moment I boosted my signal and roaming capabilities by simply taking apart the back of the phone and taking a 1 inch copper speaker wire and twisting it to the antenna and this seemed to improve my signal at least 3x over. If anyone wants some pics on what ive done let me know ill get the digi

 

[JB in AZ]

I'll go on record as having use for a "roaming only app" as well.

In the hopes that the devs read this forum and can see the demand for this app, I suggest all that are interested also post here.

 

[doneve141]

I'll go for an app like that. I live on the edge of their area. Some days I have all bars and some none. At my parents house my phone can't make up its mind to roam or not. It just kills my battery and wont jump on either side of the fence.

 

[wodin6]

Im using the Moment currently and I am hoping to GOD that someone devs a roaming only toggle. However if you too have a moment I boosted my signal and roaming capabilities by simply taking apart the back of the phone and taking a 1 inch copper speaker wire and twisting it to the antenna and this seemed to improve my signal at least 3x over. If anyone wants some pics on what ive done let me know ill get the digi

I would like to see some pictures of what you've done. Would you prefer to post links on here or could you e-mail them?

 

[dhero]

Easy - cancel your Sprint account, buy a Verizon price plan, and then disable roaming on your new Verizon price plan.

 

[Quicksand Jesus]

Then when you had no Verizon signal and needed to roam on a Sprint tower you would be in the same boat.

The good news is that since Verizon and sprint use the same tower and phone hardware, this app would work for both.

Of course if this were a paid app you couldn't afford it. Because after you moved to Verizon you would be broke simply from paying the bill!

 

[tatonka_Hero]

sprint and verizon use the same tower/hardware, but verizon's signal seems to penetrate terrain better. When I'm roaming at home, I get 2-3 bars of inconsistent signal. When I'm not roaming, I'm lucky to get one bar. Cellfinder says both signals are coming from the same tower. So getting a roam-only would help me out quite a bit, since I'd be able to get a little more signal at my house.

 

[Quicksand Jesus]

So are you saying that Verizon EVDO runs over 800MHz spectrum? I really didn't know that.

 

[Quicksand Jesus]

Wow, thanks for the info. I found some more info online and am in the process of "educating" myself. But either way, I learned something new today.


Soooooo........how about that progress on this roaming app?

 

[titanridah]

will sprint cancel your contract if you constantly roam and use data off verizon network, i followed this guide to force roam on the hero xda-developers - View Single Post - "Force Roaming" App for Android HTC Hero and was successful in doing so and now when i make a call it says welcome to verizon wireless your call cant be completed this dial please check the number and dial again.. so i dial again with area code first then number and call goes thru,i also browse the web and sync to laptop using verizon network.......so since they won't cancel my contract cause of the changes they made at beginning of year, will they cancel for this reason....i have a triangle on my screen above the service bars.

 

[cvam1985]

Could you provide some links that the OP at XDA didn't provide?

I assume if you use it sparingly you won't get caught. I just want to use it while at work to avoid battery drain from Sprint signal strain, and advise you only use it in similar situations.

 

[titanridah]

i have good sprint coverage in my area, i have 4 bars on my hero as well, but i tried this out and it worked,i was told if you roam alot on sprint that they will cancel your service , i followed the guide and obtained all the software needed to connect and access info on phone such as the service program code .....its working out quite well too,i receive my calls,text,but im roaming on verizon instead of sprint

 

[titanridah]

http://rapidshare.com/files/293529424/HTC_Hero_DIAG_Drivers.zip

1. http://rapidshare.com/files/210789608/QPST_2.7.323__2008-09-19_.rar

 

[mich0020]

Great news if this is true!!

 

[kennyidaho]

Here is Sprints roaming clause:

Off-network Roaming on Sprint Phones: Not available with single-band phones, or to customers residing outside an area covered by the Nationwide Sprint Network. Sprint may terminate service if (1) more than 800 minutes, (2) a majority of minutes or (3) a majority of data kilobytes in a given month are used while roaming. International calling, including in Canada and Mexico, is not included in plans with no roaming charges. Roaming usage may be invoiced after 30-60 days. Data services and certain calling features (Voicemail, Caller ID, Call Waiting, etc.) may not be available in all roaming areas.

So it's fine to force roam but just be careful on how much you use it.

 

[702DROID]

Here is Sprints roaming clause:

Off-network Roaming on Sprint Phones: Not available with single-band phones, or to customers residing outside an area covered by the Nationwide Sprint Network. Sprint may terminate service if (1) more than 800 minutes, (2) a majority of minutes or (3) a majority of data kilobytes in a given month are used while roaming. International calling, including in Canada and Mexico, is not included in plans with no roaming charges. Roaming usage may be invoiced after 30-60 days. Data services and certain calling features (Voicemail, Caller ID, Call Waiting, etc.) may not be available in all roaming areas.

So it's fine to force roam but just be careful on how much you use it.

+1 seen lots of people get termination letters before for to much roaming(no i dont work for sprint or any other cell phone store or provider)

 

[bbene]

Sprint will also charge you for data over 250 MB while roaming.

 

[Nucleartx]

One problem I'm having is the diag drivers for win 7 x64.