dbpaddler

Sorry, but no. I know plenty of places in Philly and the surrounding area i won't roam on verizon where my verizon friends have a great signal, and i have squat. Yet there are certain places i will always roam on verizon. It isn't universal. My sister's house will drain my phone in an hour searching fo a signal while verizon is strong as can be. Then ask everyone with an airave at home where the verizon signal is strong.

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Chicago D

This thread has been very helpful . I was going nuts thinking my Droid had problems.

This is happening to me, began last week, in the Chicago neighborhood I've lived in for 5 years with Sprint without problems

if I go a mile north, south, east, west NO PROBLEM with service.

Either Sprint must fix this problem or I need to move. I don't have wired internet so airrave is not an option for me.

One other thing, on top of my building I can get 4g but not make calls! I've confirmed this with a friends phone as well.

forddna

I finally got a chance to test making a phone call while roaming. I lost signal inside a store IN TAMPA. I got the roaming popup warning and told it to go ahead and roam so I could make a call. But I got the message from Verizon that someone mentioned earlier and was not able to make a phone call.

Good job, Sprint. What's the point of being able to roam if you can't make calls, can't send texts, and can't use the internet/data???

I have asked my sister to add me to her AT&T family plan, and I'll be able to do it for $40/mo. Woot!

BenChase7

Bye.

forddna

Umm..thank you? Not sure why you always have a snide remark for me, but I'm proud to affect some stranger over the interwebz so much. lol

dbpaddler

Ain't the internet grand? At least you have some nice slate options on AT&T since you don't use the keyboard.

forddna

Yes, there are some very nice phones over there.

AbeRod1986

So I guess I made a mistake getting an Evo 3D for me and an Evo 4G for my wife?

I really don't know what to do anymore, I'll try sprint for 30 days, if it's no good I'll drop it. But I just want to leave att, and Tmobile does not offer real 4G even though they have nice phones. So that leaves Verizon... What's the best android phone on Verizon?

dbpaddler

I have a demo sidekick 4g on T-mob alongside my Epic on Sprint, and I get better speeds on the Sidekick, pushing 8mbs compared to my 3-6 on Sprint. The whole 4g not 4g stuff is just crap. I don't care about theoretical speeds. I care about my actual ones regardless of the terminology (LTE, WIMAX, HSPA+). If I'm consistently getting over 5mbs, then I'm a happy camper.

forddna

Best Android phone on Verizon? Samsung Charge. With Samsung Function coming soon (next month?).

AbeRod1986

You know what? you're right. I think I'll check out the MyTouch 4G...

dbpaddler

I hope you mean the 4g slide, because there are better slates than the MyTouch 4g. t The 4g Slide isn't my idea of a premium slider, but it's the best slider they have. I really don't get why there are only two 4+ inch 5 row sliders on the market. Makes no sense to me.

evolution3d

Sounds like you have your roaming guards enabled.

Go to your settings > Wireless & Networks > Mobile Networks.

Make sure Data Roaming is checked. Un-check Data Roaming Guard, Un-check Call Guard (may be under call settings on some phones), and make sure roaming is set automatic.

forddna

Ok. Did all that. What's the difference between it being set to always roam in settings, and me telling it to roam when I lose data/voice service?

BenChase7

I dont think there is an always (i.e. force) roam setting, at least not natively. There is Auto roam which will allow the phone to roam if it loses home network (Sprint) coverage.. it will automatically switch to another network and roam off of it. When it picks up home network coverage, it will automatically switch back. There is also a selection to protect against roaming (i.e. roaming guard, or something like that), this feature is for those who do not have roaming agreements and will incur overages for roaming. We dont have to worry about that. I always keep my phone on Auto, since we have roaming included. At least thats my take; and its been working fine, without any additional charges/overages, for years. Hope that helps.

dbpaddler

You can't force roaming. If you could, then you'd set off a red flag when your percentage of roam to home went over a certain percentage. Then Sprint would cancel your account and tell you to go elsewhere. Well maybe not immediately, but if you kept it up they would. The best you can do is set roaming to automatic, turn the roaming settings for voice and data on and the guards for them off. It should be about as seamless as it can get.

evolution3d

There is an app called Roam Control that will force roaming on some phones but as mentioned beware you could throw up red flags. Only use it in an area where you are really on the fringe of grabbing a Sprint tower. Then turn it off. Sprint has pretty good reception in most areas anyways.

I actually ended up for the first time today since I've had Sprint in a small area where my phone automatically went into roaming. I tried calling my friend with at&t sitting right next to me and got the message mentioned earlier about verizon wireless. I dialed his number without using the area code. Then i tried again using the area code and the call went through just fine.

evolution3d

Do you mean the Sprint only/Automatic setting or the guards?

Rigmaster

Interesting thread here. I set my phone to Sprint-only, no roaming and I haven't hit any areas yet in NJ, Philly-metro, NY, CT, MD, VA, NC, FL, and MA that I didn't get Sprint service. I did not get much Sprint service in northern ME, but I checked for roaming signal and didn't get any VZW there either. I think some smaller, regional provider showed up but I never made a call. Data there wasn't an option.

My lesson on roaming - I can generally stay with Sprint only. If I can't get a call through, it's easy enough to toggle roaming on and search for another signal. If I'm that far from Sprint service, I don't expect much, if any, access to data.

As to the post of why Wimax matters? Well, there isn't a day when I'm not using my phone online to respond to biz or personal email, check biz accounts, or other items I need to do. If a call comes in, I don't have to stop what I'm doing. If I'm asked to look something up, I do it right then. That matters because people really get jazzed when you tell them they don't have to wait while you retrieve the information. It also matters in major metros where Sprint has strong 4G signal and coverage.

The way I get in and around NYC, Philly, and Boston is much better now with 4G. I can talk to people as I'm getting to them.

Of course, it's tough on battery (as all multi-tasking is). That's what extended batteries and portable rechargers are for.

I've had VZW friends brag about speed. Yes, they were faster. But it wasn't practically that much better. Just because you can DL/stream faster doesn't mean you can watch the content any faster. My speedy VZW friends are always conscious of data too. I never win the speed test, but I always win when it comes to continuous use. I never see VZW friends walking around using Google Maps/Layars/etc while talking to others while driving/walking to our meeting point. I do it all the time thanks to Wimax.

As for TMo - they're very good in their strong coverage areas. If I lived in downtown Philly, I'd probably use them. TMo doesn't hold up well for traveling though. And those speeds they show don't hold up across their entire coverage footprint. They're good, just not great. If they were, people would be signing up for them in droves and they wouldn't be an AT&T acquisition. And IF TMo gets swallowed up by AT&T, expect the speeds to drop significantly. Those iPhoners would love to be able to have another pool of towers to choke.

evolution3d

Even though it's easy enough to switch, why not just leave roaming on automatic?

dbpaddler

With t-mo, as the merger continues and they combine towers, coverage should improve for both. And doesn't tmo use different freq's for their hspa+? So it shouldn't be a big throttling either with the influx of apple crowd.

For work, their wifi calling is a big plus. We spend a lot of time in hospitals that can turn into big dead zones. After a few hours of signal searching or minimal signal our batteries are pretty much dead. So hop on the hospital wifi and talk, text and surf with no signal issues, battery drain or separate gv numbers and what not.

BenChase7

That's what I do.

evolution3d

Really it's what everyone should be doing. I make sure all my customers phones are set to automatic.

forddna

I did what was posted above. I just wasn't specific in my post. The roaming I am telling it to do in settings is actually data. "Always connect to data when roaming."

I still don't see how (and am asking how) this is different than when the data warning screen pops up, and I tell it to roam (which never actually connects to anything).

BenChase7

well, if you have your settings how I think you do, and how I have mine, this will just eliminate a prompt asking you before it roams. One less step because you wont have to "approve" the roam.. it will automatically switch back and forth if it needs to roam.

forddna

So all it is doing is skipping a step? So I still won't be able to make phone calls or get data when I am allegedly roaming.

dbpaddler

Technically you should have the ability for phone, text and 1x data.

Needforspeed

I never seen 1x in the notification bar

Needforspeed

Where do u see 1x I don't see it I have a HTC Evo 4g

dbpaddler

Not all phones show speeds accurately. My Epic shows 1x, and I'm down in dnna's neck of the woods. Getting good 4g but horrible 3g. If I'm not mistaken, the roaming contract is set up for 1x data and not 3g. Can't vouch for what individual phones show up in the status bar.

forddna

Setting my phone to automatic roaming worked great this weekend. I have no idea why doing this worked, but telling it to roam when the roaming warning came up on the screen would not. Stoopid phone.

BenChase7

Sweet! :-)

dbpaddler

Maybe the phone treats it differently when manually done compared to automatic.

forddna

Yes, but why?

tryingtohelp

Please be careful about your minutes while roaming. When I bought my EVO, Sprint sales told me also, as shown in posts above, that your any-mobile-anytime minutes include roaming calls. This is absolutely UNTRUE.

Your minutes (1500 in my case) ARE used when roaming even if you call a mobile phone.

I know this because I just got a surprise bill for $500. A Sprint tower went down recently in my area, so I had no option but to be roaming for several days. I was on the phone with Sprint for hours, trying to convince them to remove the charges. They said that I had been roaming and had used up my minutes. They said that it is written right on the web site, "while on the Nationwide Sprint or Nextel National Networks," so they wouldn't remove the charges.

I like Sprint, and I wouldn't go back to Verizon, but I feel like Sprint just stole $400 from me.

dbpaddler

I'd talk to tech support about the tower being down where you were roaming. Leave your bill out of it. Try to get and write down as much specific info about the tower outage as possible. Then call back to customer service and make your case. And then take it to tech sites and your local news. "Sprint forcing customers to roam in sprint coverage areas and padding their bills by manually shutting down towers." That would make a nice headline. Maybe the fcc would like to hear that story.

worlok

I just left Verizon for Sprint and so far while it's "okay", the coverage is nowhere near what I am used to. I work in Manhattan and just down the block on 28th street is the "Cafe 28" and I am used to eating lunch and surfing in their upstairs eating area. Not anymore... no data signal... and my roaming is set to automatic with no roaming guard enabled, using a spiffy new Samsung Galaxy S™ ll, Epic™ 4G Touch. But, I am saving money.

pwabbit

I am a long time Sprint customer. Sprint is a great deal for the money unless you need two things: 1) A strong signal 2) Decent data speeds.

Sprint is known for having the slowest 3g speeds in the industry. Unless you are surfing with full time Wimax, you are going slooooow. It would be the opposite of the T-Mobile commercials. I think Sprint would be on a tricycle.

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NYCHitman1

Fixed that for you.

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Last edited by NYCHitman1; May 31st, 2012 at 10:15 AM.

burke002

OK people I'm a truck driver and I drive all over the US and I have Sprint, so you can imagine the roaming I do. Your post is incorrect as long as you are not Roaming internationally which means Canada, Mexico, or over seas you are unlimited. I make a lot of phone calls to my wife who has AT&T ( why do have Sprint, one word Throttle) and I have yet to go over my 900 minutes or even come close. All my calls to my wife have been free no matter if I'm in some remote area on a US hwy or in the Interstate in a major city. No roaming means no roaming , unlimited means unlimited. Hope this helps


With said I do experience a lot of dropped calls unlike AT&T, love the unlimited data though.


OTR driver burke002

Last edited by burke002; June 9th, 2012 at 08:43 PM. Reason: Addition