Sprint Airave (Post #1 has a quick "FAQ" for help)

[flatlander]

There is a long thread on the airrave with detailed instructions to get it for little or no cost

 

[SubaruB4]

sorry so late to respond but I heard the new airave has issues dropping calls after 40 seconds or so.

I'm not sure if I should wait or get the older model from ebay?

 

[SubaruB4]

I'm thinking about buying the samsung older model on ebay since this new one seems to have so many problems being on a call longer then 40 seconds.

My question is do I need to contact sprint or anything like that or can I just use it right away?

 

[Fubie]

There is a long thread on the airrave with detailed instructions to get it for little or no cost

I have little or no signal at my home. 1 bar and constantly switching to roaming. Annoying as hell. Voice calls are dropped all the time. I decided to try and get an airrave w/o paying for it. LOL I need to find that thread and make an addendum to the "...get it for little or not cost" section. I was told my online support and tele-sales that the airrave wasn't available and wouldn't help my situation???

 

[marctronixx]

i have both models. im currently running the latest airvana model.

i havenot had a dropped call due to the airvana. andi have had this since sprint launched them.

although some may have some issues (some mentioned GPS issues), i have not had ANY problems with EITHER unit.

 

[SubaruB4]

about ready to buy a samsung model on ebay but I'm looking at the manual now.. you can't use the GPS outdoors??

that poses an issue for me.. not only do I not have signal indoors but the way the apartment is built I get no signal inside and that includes having it sit next to the window..

all the other pictures I seen on ebay show it to be made for use outdoors

I noticed one has a white antenna and the other is the black one.. which one is the newer one of the two?

 

[marctronixx]

which one of what? the antenna or the airave? there are two models out the first gen airave and the second model airvana.

the gps antenna is an off the shelf antenna. the gps antenna used on these models is akin to the Sirius radio/xm radio antennas, so the gps antenna does not matter.

you also dont have to sit the gps antenna outside. it just needs LOS of the sky to pick up the sats in the sky. tht can be accomplished by simply sitting the antenna on a windowsill.

and have you contacted sprint about your signal issues? talk to retentions and they will provide you with a free unit. most of those on fleabay are from people who have received the newer airvana and are selling their old samsung model--which most of them didnt pay for in the beginning.

educate yourself and call sprint if you have not done so and see if they can provide you one for free.

 

[SubaruB4]

I haven't called sprint because I feel they will say I wont get it for free.. However What happens if I do have the dropped calls issue?

Also I still need to put the GPS outside of the house.. If you sit a GPS unit in the window I kid you not you will get 0.. it's because of the metal screens (kills the signal) So if the antenna is really cheap I'd just have to replace it with something that's for outdoor.

I do enough with 5 GPS outdoor receivers so I can tell at a glance if it can hold up.

 

[marctronixx]

calling sprint wont hurt and all they can say is "sorry".

hey if you have an outdoor antenna then great! im not trying to prevent you from using one just saying that it works indoors. ive never had an issue.

anyway back to your subject, there is no difference in antennas. if you can provide a link to a specific sell i may be able to give you more info. i have both old and new units..

 

[RealityBites]

I've been using an Airave for about 1.5 years, from just after we moved into our new home. First the Samsung unit, then the Arvana.

Anyway, I have started having issues early last week...Incoming calls only are affected...the caller dials my number, and they never hear it ringing......

What happens to me is the call will go straight to voicemail. This only seemed to start happening over the last few weeks... since mid-March I would say and it a is intermittent. That is, if they try to call again a couple of times, my phone may ring.

I have an Airave airvana and Motorola Renegade V950 heavy duty phone.

The other night the Airave mobile light was slow blinking forever and I did not have service. That means it was trying to initialize but it was not. It was that way when I came home even though it worked that morning. I tried rebooting the unit (power off/on) and that did not clear it. I called support and they said reset it by pushing in button on back (with paperclip) for 10sec.

That fixed it but still had the issue where not all calls would come through. I've changed my voice message to warn people to leave VM and try again a few times.

I received my Airave back in late Jan after complaining a couple of times for free, no monthly charge, no activation charge. I live in a small blotch of weak signal that is shown on Sprint's coverage maps so there is no question I had poor service. The coverage issue is annoying because I live in a suburb outside of Chicago, major urban area, and most of my neighborhood has food coverage, but not me nor a small blotch in it. This happened a couple a years ago. I suspect they repurporsed a cell tower and screwed up their coverage zones. Regardless, the Airave unit has been great except for this issue of not always ringing and calls going straight to VM, randomly.

I've seen in other forums this problem back to 2008, on older Airave models with a variety of phones. I do not think it is a hardware, phone model or internet connection issue (my is cable at 20+mbs); not that it could not be in some circumstances. I suspect there is a problem in Sprints internal network software that identifies where you phone is and how to connect it. I don't know their network software details but I can see a scenario where your phone goes off tower network because Airave has it. One system thinks it is off network (tower) while the other has it on the Airave and whatever process propagates that info throughout the Sprint network for outside calls to enter in for connection may not have it updated correctly at all access points.

That's my theory. I hope sprint can address this issue because it is damm annoying and I do not care for AT&T or Verizon. TMobile is the only one I would go to otherwise and who knows who will own them in the future (probably AT&T given the lack of antitrust enforcement these days).

Does anyone have any other ideas or solutions of calls straight to VM w/ Airave? I tried speaking to an Airave tech support person the other night and they were clueless. I will try again for a better tech. Thanks.

 

[marctronixx]

perhaps your unit is defective. they should send you a new one. whats the point in having it if it does not work or send calls to VM.

ive had the latest generation unit since they launched and no issues. the tech at airave can find out why your unit is not behaving as it should . you lucked out and got a lazy tech. they can see your uint and certain info form it to their screen.

GPS also plays an issue. if its locked onto some bad coordinates it can trip up the airave/airvana. gps has been the most of the issues i have read about people complaining about the device.

again, each persons location is different and there are other factors involved such as your IS provider, geo location, etc.

can you use another sprint phone? does all sprint phones roll over to VM when they are locked on to your airave/airvana?

 

[RealityBites]

I have no other phone to try and I cannot rule that out, of course. A few times before the Airave, over a year+, this also happened when I was in the poor signal area. I was thinking of upgrading to the EDO 3D when it comes out, but I am not sure of committing to Sprint at this point for a 2yr contract. I will get on Tech support during the week where they may have better support.

This does not happen all the time, nor with the same caller. Also, if they leave a message or try a few more times they will get through. If they leave a VM I will get the notification quickly, with no observed delay.

I am wondering what cause straight to VM behavior, no ring on my end or the callers'. Can the Airave cause that, the phone, or is it more of a Sprint Network issue? I will see what I can find out with tech support, including getting a new unit if possible. The tech I spoke with Friday when I reset the unit said it all appeared okay from his end.

For now I've updated my personal greeting to say "Hey, sometimes my phones goes straight to VM, it's a Sprint Issue. Try again a few times or/and leave a message and we will get in contact. "

Thanks for any insights you have.

 

[Tempusfugit]

perhaps your unit is defective. they should send you a new one. whats the point in having it if it does not work or send calls to VM.

ive had the latest generation unit since they launched and no issues. the tech at airave can find out why your unit is not behaving as it should . you lucked out and got a lazy tech. they can see your uint and certain info form it to their screen.

GPS also plays an issue. if its locked onto some bad coordinates it can trip up the airave/airvana. gps has been the most of the issues i have read about people complaining about the device.

again, each persons location is different and there are other factors involved such as your IS provider, geo location, etc.

can you use another sprint phone? does all sprint phones roll over to VM when they are locked on to your airave/airvana?

Since all airave's work perfect, does call waiting work on your airvana?

 

[marctronixx]

the first gen airave and now this second gen arivana, both work perfectly as intended. yes my call waiting works. on the first gen airave, i had a touch pro, touch pro2 and htc hero and i had no issues with calls or VM or call waiting.

now on the 2nd gen airvana, ive had the evo only and the performance has been rock solid.

 

[SubaruB4]

on the phone now with sprint if they wont give me it free I will just order one from ebay

wow just got off the phone.. they want a 2 year service agreement.. all in all it would be $129.99 + a $100 security deposit to ship...

No way.. I rather just buy a used one and just activate it... but my question is will I have hassles? And who will be activating it telesales or customer service? And I wont be paying the security deposit will I?

 

[Tempusfugit]

now on the 2nd gen airvana, ive had the evo only and the performance has been rock solid.

Well that's odd since sprint told me its a known problem on all EVOs and there's nothing they can do about it. I guess I'll be making a call back to them.

 

[marctronixx]

its not odd thats just what that rep said to appease the customer.

i have been using the 2nd gen unit for months now and its been solid. theres many people who have these units who also have solid performance. you dont see those folks coming here to post that it works great... i do it because im active here. theres probably some folks over at other forums who have good experience as i have.. just depends on where you look.

but for real honest engine, ive had no issues with this unit. none. using comcastic service. even the privacy tone works when making/receiving calls..

 

[Kelita]

I have an EVO and have had my Airvana since September. I have had no problems with it and am using Time Warner Cable with it. I may have had to reset it once but other than that, call quality, etc. has been impeccable. I've been very happy with it.

 

[BrianJB]

I recently contacted sprint about my signal (or lack thereof) since the latest PRL update. I told them that I never had good 3g speed at home, but my voice signal would be decent (most of the time around 3 bars). But since the latest prl update my phone would struggle to get 1 bar. And 3g was pulling download speed around .04mbps.

They suggested the "airave" to me, it did cost me around $100 but they waved the monthly fee.

I got the airave yesterday before I went into work. I followed the instructions to a "T" hooked it up, and left for work. When I got home my wireless internet didnt work, nor did the airave. I talked to one person on the airave customer line (the guy wasnt the most pleasant person), and he couldnt help my problem. I finally just had to reset my router to get wireless internet to work again.

Finally, this morning I got on the phone once again with airave customer support, this time it went MUCH better. I actually had to setup a seperate port in my router for the airave to run. After about an hour of being on the phone we finally got the airave to work, and now I must say;

THIS THING IS AWESOME.

I went from no signal to having a full signal, my 3g went from nothing to 2mbps!. Which obviously I wont be using 3g when at home, but it is nice to know that I can pull those kind of speeds. And most importantly I can make and recieve calls.

To anyone who is in a poor reception area I highly recommend calling sprint about the airave. But be prepared to be on the phone with airave customer support for at least an hour (if not more).

 

[pastafarian]

I've been a happy airave 1 (no 3G) owner for almost 2 years now and I agree that it's awesome.

 

[BenChase7]

So, can anyone with a Sprint phone feed off this thing? Or, is it like a WiFi router where you have to select the "network" and type in a password?

And, good info... Thanks for posting.

 

[MissJennell]

The problem with the airave is that is only helps the issues at ones house. It doesn't help anywhere else.

 

[BenChase7]

The problem with the airave is that is only helps the issues at ones house. It doesn't help anywhere else.

I agree, but if you're on the edge of a coverage area, it might be just what you need.

 

[BrianJB]

So, can anyone with a Sprint phone feed off this thing? Or, is it like a WiFi router where you have to select the "network" and type in a password?

And, good info... Thanks for posting.

From what ive been told and read yes anyone with a sprint phone within 5,000 feet of the airave can use it. But i've also read that there is a way to set it up so only "approved sprint phones" can use it.

But when I got it to finally work it didnt require a password to be entered over my phone, my phone just went from no bars-1 bar, to full service with full 3g service.

I agree, but if you're on the edge of a coverage area, it might be just what you need.

Exactly!, I really wondered if it would be worth it. But sprint said I could try it for a month and if I didnt like it they would refund my money in full when I returned the airave. And with our cul-de-sac being on the edge of coverage I figured it was worth a try.

 

[BenChase7]

Awesome! Sounds great... thanks.