Help Roaming for 6 hours (screenies to prove it)

[rvarn1]

I was visiting my grandmother in Inverness, Fl where Sprint coverage indoors is non-existant (I've had Sprint for a good while, switched to VM). I have loaded up CM7 and went into network options and turned on data roaming, just for kicks... I went indoors to simply be surprised by 3 bars of 3G! I was happy... then I looked closely and saw this blinking (ha ha) triangle, which indicated data roaming, as well as all traces of virgin mobile's name eradicated from the notification area and lockscreen, replaced with "digital roam". I downloaded sim city and a bunch of market update while there, with the roaming indicator still blinking. I went into phone options (*#*#4636#*#*) and double checked the roaming there.... it was indeed roaming(I took screen-shots, I'll upload if proof is needed). Now the interesting thing... in the options for mobile networks, it says DATA roaming, and not voice roaming... I tried a call to my aunt in NY, the call didn't go through, because there was no service according to a quick look at the signal bars. I hung up and my service was back to the roaming... and I couldn't send text messages either, or receive them (like I didn't have coverage). I looked at my uncles Droid X2, it had "3 bars" just like my triumph... I found it strange that my family with sprint and VM had no coverage while I did. I turned roaming on and off, and both times it connected back to Verizon's towers, while my extended family with VZW had 3 bars or so if I checked. It stayed like that for about 6 hours, until I left and got on the interstate, and back into good sprint coverage. So my idea is this: there are areas that I have found where my phone will authenticate with Verizon's towers in areas with little to no sprint coverage when they have not updated the PRL's to block Verizon towers (i'm guessing, I don't know). I have fairly stock triumph, no PRL swap with CM7 loaded. Sharing my experiences: when you are data roaming, data works, but nothing else. (6 messages came through and a missed call when I left her house)

Another sort of anecdotal thing: I tried a speed test, and got about 1.3 mbs, and I've never gotten that speed, ever, with sprint service. I am now home, back to my mediocre 300 kbs pr so when I checked, with 1-2 bars.
Anyway... maybe VM will officially allow roaming this year with additional charges?? Sign me up if they do
Happy New Year!

screenshots in a .zip

 

[ziggy46]

I was visiting my grandmother in Inverness, Fl where Sprint coverage indoors is non-existant (I've had Sprint for a good while, switched to VM). I have loaded up CM7 and went into network options and turned on data roaming, just for kicks... I went indoors to simply be surprised by 3 bars of 3G! I was happy... then I looked closely and saw this blinking (ha ha) triangle, which indicated data roaming, as well as all traces of virgin mobile's name eradicated from the notification area and lockscreen, replaced with "digital roam". I downloaded sim city and a bunch of market update while there, with the roaming indicator still blinking. I went into phone options (*#*#4636#*#*) and double checked the roaming there.... it was indeed roaming(I took screen-shots, I'll upload if proof is needed). Now the interesting thing... in the options for mobile networks, it says DATA roaming, and not voice roaming... I tried a call to my aunt in NY, the call didn't go through, because there was no service according to a quick look at the signal bars. I hung up and my service was back to the roaming... and I couldn't send text messages either, or receive them (like I didn't have coverage). I looked at my uncles Droid X2, it had "3 bars" just like my triumph... I found it strange that my family with sprint and VM had no coverage while I did. I turned roaming on and off, and both times it connected back to Verizon's towers, while my extended family with VZW had 3 bars or so if I checked. It stayed like that for about 6 hours, until I left and got on the interstate, and back into good sprint coverage. So my idea is this: there are areas that I have found where my phone will authenticate with Verizon's towers in areas with little to no sprint coverage when they have not updated the PRL's to block Verizon towers (i'm guessing, I don't know). I have fairly stock triumph, no PRL swap with CM7 loaded. Sharing my experiences: when you are data roaming, data works, but nothing else. (6 messages came through and a missed call when I left her house)

Another sort of anecdotal thing: I tried a speed test, and got about 1.3 mbs, and I've never gotten that speed, ever, with sprint service. I am now home, back to my mediocre 300 kbs pr so when I checked, with 1-2 bars.
Anyway... maybe VM will officially allow roaming this year with additional charges?? Sign me up if they do
Happy New Year!

sweet! can you post the screenshots anyways? i still want to see em'

 

[rvarn1]

sweet! can you post the screenshots anyways? i still want to see em'

well there they are in all their glory. I have the gingerblur theme from the android market installed. in a .zip for easy upload. PS if you already saw the ones before I edited... screw it, don't spam me.

 

[marc12868]

personally I think that proves nothing. For all we know you changed your framework apk to show digital roam and added the triangle... And seeing how all of them show roaming as not roaming... For me to believe it I would have to see it for myself which I haven't even when I know I am in a different service area but still have no connection to anything when there isn't a sprint tower around...

 

[rvarn1]

look at the last one, it says digital roam... the middle one shows that the phone obviously isn't GSM, haha. Also, I haven't the clue or inclination to fool anybody by editing the framwork, whatever that is All I know is to flash CM7 and download apps. period
Richard

 

[ziggy46]

personally I think that proves nothing. For all we know you changed your framework apk to show digital roam and added the triangle... And seeing how all of them show roaming as not roaming... For me to believe it I would have to see it for myself which I haven't even when I know I am in a different service area but still have no connection to anything when there isn't a sprint tower around...

well to do what you said you think he did would be a real challenge... (there would be alot to do to show something little like that)

and i dont think he would know how to do that to the framework-res.apk (no offence rvarn1)

 

[rvarn1]

well to do what you said you think he did would be a real challenge... (there would be alot to do to show something little like that)

and i dont think he would know how to do that to the framework-res.apk (no offence rvarn1)

Well, I don't. I'd like to change it to sprint anyway but don't know how. Also, I'd love it if I could roam on VZW at home, but I don't. I'm saying it happens SOMETIMES, not always, with no sprint coverage. I didn't want to make angry pepes here, just sharing my idea about it, it was interesting (to me)

 

[tanner4137]

I posted on the forums about this a while back also! EXACT same thing happend. They all thought i was lying too

 

[rvarn1]

I posted on the forums about this a while back also! EXACT same thing happend. They all thought i was lying too

Well then... if anybody want to know... I was visiting a 352 area code, but live in a 850 area.... Although, I've had it happen at my own house for about 30 seconds, never long enough to realize and get a screenshot. ah well. like i said, whats a framework? and, even though we aren't supposed to roam, "ship happens" and someone is gonna be pissed about that ~70 mbs of data that wasn't downloaded from sprint.

 

[marc12868]

the framework-res.apk holds all the pictures that the phone has like on the status bar. And I wasn't saying anyone was lying, but those screenshots don't prove one way or another, also I have never seen it and VM phones aren't supposed to be able to roam... although I think TG said something about the possibility of them maybe being able to roam...

 

[ziggy46]

the framework-res.apk holds all the pictures that the phone has like on the status bar. And I wasn't saying anyone was lying, but those screenshots don't prove one way or another, also I have never seen it and VM phones aren't supposed to be able to roam... although I think TG said something about the possibility of them maybe being able to roam...

lol your telling me stuff i already know... and i see your point of view, but im choose to believe them.

also, you guys know the cherry mobile magnum hd? i want to buy that phone and move the "guts" from this phone to it! so that i willl have a CDMA triumph that looks cool (i know, i know... that wont really work. but it would be cool if it would work)

 

[rvarn1]

lol your telling me stuff i already know... and i see your point of view, but im choose to believe them.

also, you guys know the cherry mobile magnum hd? i want to buy that phone and move the "guts" from this phone to it! so that i willl have a CDMA triumph that looks cool (i know, i know... that wont really work. but it would be cool if it would work)

Lol...

 

[marc12868]

lol your telling me stuff i already know... and i see your point of view, but im choose to believe them.

also, you guys know the cherry mobile magnum hd? i want to buy that phone and move the "guts" from this phone to it! so that i willl have a CDMA triumph that looks cool (i know, i know... that wont really work. but it would be cool if it would work)

I was telling Rvarn1... And about moving the guts to a magnum hd shell it wouldnt be all that hard, but it would take minor modifications to the magnum hds shell...

 

[tanner4137]

This is what Ticker Guy posted when I started a topic about my Triumph roaming.

If you saw DIGITAL ROAM, bars and the triangle it meant you were connected to and authenticated with a tower that (1) was permitted in the PRL and (2) did not match Virgin's carrier ID.

That is, you were roaming.

This assumes you had both the roam triangle and bars. When the phone boots it can show "Digital Roam" briefly if it sees a Verizon (or other) CDMA tower when it's trying to authenticate. But you should not see the roam triangle as that doesn't show up unless you have authenticated against the tower.

I know intimately how the code figures this out and the paths it takes as I had to get into the meat of it while getting the RIL running. Trust me on this -- if you got that you were on a tower that had a different carrier ID than Virgin's, and you were authenticated against it and if you were running data then you definitely had a valid connection.

Note that it's entirely possible if you load a non-default PRL to authenticate against some other carrier's tower if there are no Sprint towers (or only 4g WiMax towers that the radio can't talk to) within range. But in that case you can't run data (the data indicator will NOT come up) nor can you make calls - if you try to make a call you'll either get an intercept or be asked for a credit card number. Data will not come up without being authenticated -- period.

If you have a PC nearby next time with adb on it (or just use the terminal in CM7) you can logcat the device when it is doing this and it will occasionally spit out the radio status information in the logcat -- it should tell you what it "sees."

I suspect that you were in an area where Virgin/Sprint had, for whatever reason (probably their screwup) allowed your phone to validate against a Verizon tower!

 

[tanner4137]

I hope this settles things

 

[jgriner]

i have seen the triangle and digital roam once, after selectiing data roaming in miui, it only lasted mins on my phone, as i was driving down the interstate

 

[ziddey]

moved to a new place. need to goto a far corner of the house or outside to have a decent call. incoming calls go straight to voicemail usually even if i have "service"

-100 to -125dbm and easily no service in the basement.

got digital roam for maybe half a minute just now. nice to see verizon is -65dbm here. agh.

 

[rvarn1]

moved to a new place. need to goto a far corner of the house or outside to have a decent call. incoming calls go straight to voicemail usually even if i have "service"

-100 to -125dbm and easily no service in the basement.

got digital roam for maybe half a minute just now. nice to see verizon is -65dbm here. agh.

That sucks to be teased by it... :/