Will ET4G Support Spints New Data Plan??

[jfenton]

I'm confused.

Am seeing a lot of panic now that it is confirmed that the ET4G DOES NOT support EVDO REV B...confirmed by Sprint and Samsung.

The question is, will EVDO REV B even be involved in the Sprint 10/7 announcement or is this something not even to be concerned with?

I can't fathom that their latest and greatest released phone wouldn't be able to take advantage of network upgrades which supposedly will be talked about on 10/7? Given that data currently sucks.....I don't want us to miss out on improvements.

Thoughts???

 

[unplugged1]

I'm confused.

Am seeing a lot of panic now that it is confirmed that the ET4G DOES NOT support EVDO REV B...confirmed by Sprint and Samsung.

Can you provide the link to the confirmation from Sprint or Samsung?

I hope the panic has not led to any suicides.

 

[jfenton]

It's over on XDA...when I get back home I will send a link.

 

[unplugged1]

It's over on XDA....

The only thing that I have found on XDA is one guy's unsubstantiated opinion based on what is a possible chip set in the Epic 4G Touch that doesn't supposedly support rev.B.

I am not saying that the E4GT does support rev.B, but that we haven't heard officially one way or the other yet. All of this discussion is based on rumor and conjecture and an assimilation of parts that may or may not hold true. I do agree, given the technical conjecture so far, it would appear that the E4GT does not support rev.B. But that is only my opinion based on technical details that may not hold out to be true.

Before allowing panic to set in, you might want to wait until there is some actual confirmation. Up until this time, there has been no official confirmation, one way or the other.

 

[jbsg02]

This is a BIG DEAL for anyone who bought this phone

 

[JayWill72]

I'm afraid I might have sparked this off, for better of for worse.

I started it in a thread on AC, after I was looking over the iFixit tear down. I had just read the article that was posted Gizmofusion the previous day and thought, hmmm let's look a little further into this chip that iFixit listed. After a bit of research warning bells started firing. So yesterday I posted a thread on XDA to get the discussion going there as well. Now some people are flipping out, maybe for good reason I dunno.

I guess someone would have put two and two together eventually too, but I regret getting people riled up now. This is over something that we don't even know Sprint is going to do yet.

 

[unplugged1]

I'm afraid I might have sparked this off, for better of for worse.

Nah, these folks just picked this thing and ran with it. As another poster in another forum stated, in reference to the XDA post:

"That image also shows android version 2.2.1. The GS2E4GT has 2.3.4 out of the box so that image is not from the GS2."

NOTE: I just reviewed the image on XDA again to verify this and the image does show 2.3.4, so I'm not sure what he is referring to when he says 2.2.1.

 

[JayWill72]

Nah, these folks just picked this thing and ran with it. As another poster in another forum stated, in reference to the XDA post:

"That image also shows android version 2.2.1. The GS2E4GT has 2.3.4 out of the box so that image is not from the GS2."

I saw that, but in the image you can clearly see Device Version: 2.3.4. The guy was looking at the bottom under Multimedia Version.

 

[gsxr150]

Uhhh...this might be good to know before day 14.

 

[jfenton]

I think we need to have Sprint somehow confirm that this phone will be able to utilize whatever it is they are rolling out before the first 14 day return window is upon us.

 

[Gavisann]

I thought it was just a software update on both ends, the towers and the phones.

I'm interested to see how this turns out.

 

[tenyc424]

I'm not familiar with EVDO Rev B. Can someone explain what this is? Does this relate to 4g or 3g speeds? and what does not having EVDO Rev B do to the phone. I'm sorry if I sound like a newb. I'm new to this android/tech stuff but also curious about this since I have a feeling this will impact my phone.

 

[tenyc424]

I'm not familiar with EVDO Rev B. Can someone explain what this is? Does this relate to 4g or 3g speeds? and what does not having EVDO Rev B do to the phone. I'm sorry if I sound like a newb. I'm new to this android/tech stuff but also curious about this since I have a feeling this will impact my phone.

Never mind I have an idea now on what this is all about.

This article says it will support both the Evo 3D and Epic 4G touch

http://gizmofusion.com/2011/09/spri...1x-advanced-much-faster-3g-speeds-on-the-way/

 

[jfenton]

Never mind I have an idea now on what this is all about.

This article says it will support both the Evo 3D and Epic 4G touch

Sprint Vision Network Enhancements: EvDO Rev B, 1X Advanced, Much Faster 3G Speeds On The Way – GizmoFusion

This site also stated that the Epic Touch supported EVDO REV B which by all indications with the Qualcomm chipped installed, it does not.....unless in some way this 2007 chip has been upgraded and no documentation has been published to support it.

 

[TheBundo]

This site also stated that the Epic Touch supported EVDO REV B which by all indications with the Qualcomm chipped installed, it does not.....unless in some way this 2007 chip has been upgraded and no documentation has been published to support it.

We were promised GPS with the Mogul before it was released, but when it was released, GPS didn't work. Sprint was somewhat mum. Then the forums talk was about a class-action lawsuit because of the false advertising. Sprint even dropped the GPS part of their ads for the Mogul. One techie on the forum took his completely apart, and "proved" that it didn't have the neccesary chip and antenna.

Then the XDA people surprised everyone, including Sprint, and got it working. It DID have the hardware needed somehow. A couple months later, Sprint officially released the GPS fix. So who know what is happening here with EVDO Rev. B? We may have to wait and see.....

 

[jfenton]

If in fact, Sprint does start to utilize EVDO REVB, according to the following online chat I just had with Sprint, the ET4G does not have the hardware to support it:

3:16:46 PM :​

Connected to sprint.ehosts.net

3:16:46 PM :​

Session ID: 3770313

3:16:46 PM :​

Jim Fenton: Initial Question/Comment: As we now have only a 14 day window for returns, I have a question which I need answered. Is the Epic Touch 4G able to fully utilize EVDO REV B with all of it's benefits? It appears that the Qualcomm chip in this device is an older chip and the specifications do not show it being able to supprt EVDO REV B. Could you get me a definitive answer please?

3:16:56 PM :​

Joan P has joined this session!

3:16:56 PM :​

Connected with Joan P. Your Reference Number for this chat session is 3770313.

3:16:56 PM :​

Thank you for contacting Sprint. My name is Joan P.

3:17:07 PM :​

Jim Fenton: Howdy Joan

3:17:26 PM :​

Joan P: Hi Jim

3:17:26 PM :​

Joan P: I am happy to assist you with locating that information.

3:17:31 PM :​

Joan P: Please hold a moment while I access your account.

3:17:36 PM :​

Jim Fenton: No problem

3:19:26 PM :​

Joan P: Thanks for waiting.

3:19:50 PM :​

Jim Fenton: Certainly

3:22:11 PM :​

Joan P: As per the status of the phone that we have:

3:22:56 PM :​

Joan P: The phone has the following Processor/Chipset: Samsung Exynos™ 1.2GHz dual-core processor / S5PC210 that will support (EVDO Rev A.)

3:23:36 PM :​

Joan P: That is the 3G download speed and peak download speed will be 3.1 mbps.

3:23:45 PM :​

Jim Fenton: So you have no indication that it can utilize EVDO REV B?

3:24:46 PM :​

Joan P: There is no update regarding the REV B. However, I am sure about the REV A and that is the latest update regarding the phone that I have to share with you.

3:25:28 PM :​

Jim Fenton: I'm not looking for any information regarding updates and I appreciate the fact that you folks can't give them out till they become reality anyway.

3:25:47 PM :​

Jim Fenton: What I really need to know is if the phone has the hardware to support EVDO REV B?

3:27:16 PM :​

Joan P: No, the phone is not with the hardware configuration that will support REV B.

3:27:28 PM :​

Jim Fenton: OK Joan...

3:27:35 PM :​

Jim Fenton: Thanks for the information.

 

[Gavisann]

Don't always trust the word of an online chat rep, but it is intriguing information, thank you.

 

[jfenton]

In all honesty, we don't even have a real clue as to whether Sprint will even ever utilize EVDO REVB.

I'd just not be happy to find out that they are when they announce whatever it is they are announcing on 10/7 and then find out the phone won't support it seeing how they have shortened the return period.

 

[unplugged1]

If in fact, Sprint does start to utilize EVDO REVB, according to the following online chat I just had with Sprint, ....

Jim, I know that you mean well about finding out about this issue, but calling Sprint or engaging in an online chat with a CSR is not going to get you anywhere. Especially at level one, all these folks do is open the FAQ book and follow the instructions. If you have a question about the processor, she will be glad, as Joan did, to quote you the specs. If you ask a question that needs to be answered outside of these specs, she will inform you, as Joan did, that those specs are not part of the phone. These reps or CSR's have no independent knowledge.

As you have surmised, the Qualcomm chipset on the ET probably does not support Rev.B. What this means is still up for debate. What you can get from Sprint at this point is very limited. There are only a few people that have knowledge of how the Rev.B upgrade (if any) will affect the network. And none of those people who know work as a Sprint rep or CSR.

 

[heavychevy]

My 15 days will be up before 10/7. Phone going back.

 

[tenyc424]

I'm wondering if this is the reason the epic 4g touch had a quiet launch. There was no hype when this phone launched other than people in the forums. I would've expected a better launch considering the hype this phone got internationally. People are saying it's because of the fruit phone but now I see this also as a reason for sprint not to promote this phone as much as I had hoped. It seems samsung are the only ones trying to promote this phone and I also found it weird they were taking pre-orders but the stores had no clue about them until someone mentioned it to them. Just saying.

 

[heavychevy]

My thoughts as well.

 

[Sammael]

I'm wondering if this is the reason the epic 4g touch had a quiet launch. There was no hype when this phone launched other than people in the forums. I would've expected a better launch considering the hype this phone got internationally. People are saying it's because of the fruit phone but now I see this also as a reason for sprint not to promote this phone as much as I had hoped. It seems samsung are the only ones trying to promote this phone and I also found it weird they were taking pre-orders but the stores had no clue about them until someone mentioned it to them. Just saying.

I doubt that. The people on this board are nowhere close to representative of the larger phone buying community. Someone railing against this issue of having an absence 3g rev b support as a deal breaker are infinitesimally small. It is like some ultra nerd taking a western digital hard drive back to the store because he found out the cache for his hard drive was supplied by a parts maker that made the second best part rather than the best part and him being so upset that he drives back to the store.

Those people exist, but not in enough numbers to make a real dent. 4g is enough of a buzzword to differentiate to the larger public, getting into specific version of 3g is beyond the knowledge of most people, or concern. If you told them, they would probably care, but most don't know now, and never will.

For my part, I'd like it to have it, but since I am in a city that has strong 4g coverage, it's not a deal breaker for me at all. I walked into this phone fully expecting crap 3g speeds along with temperamental wimax signal issues in buildings. I expected that going in. rev b would have been a bonus, but it is not a deal breaker for me. For those where it is, clearly the best possible connection possible is key, and if that is true, why are you with sprint? Verizon is that way -->

 

[tenyc424]

Well sprint is cheaper and unfortunately my company uses sprint. Sprints 3G is nothing to brag about where I am. Also after some research the epic does not support rev b but the photon and evo 3d does. I like this phone a lot but the fact that if sprint rolls out rev b kind of makes me feel like I'm being duped by sprint and after using this phone I'm not sure if I can go to the evo or photon. So I guess I have a hard decision to make. If the yearly upgrades were still available I would definitely keep this phone but since that is not an option I'm not sure if I can deal with the crappy 3G speed I currently have. It's good that some people are getting good 3G speed as well as 4G but even 4G in my area is non existent. Is anyone returning their phone? Or do you guys plan on keeping it?

 

[cary328is]

Sprint never mentioned rev B as part of their sprint vision so I guess we'll have to wait for the October announcement