NEW to Virgin Mobile???

[orbeavhawk]

I just received my new Samsung Galaxy Victory 4G LTE from Virgin today....
I live in Beaverton, Oregon and their "Signal Power Map" showed GREAT 4G and 4G LTE signal strength all around me here......only been connected up for maybe 5 hours......BUT.....my phone has not changed from 3G and only smallest white bar with flash of 2nd bar once in awhile.....TERRIBLE! PLEASE tell me this is TEMPORARY......if not I just got SCAMMED.....I will be out alot of money for unuseable service.....sure HOPE not.

TKS michael

 

[SuperAfnan]

I just received my new Samsung Galaxy Victory 4G LTE from Virgin today....
I live in Beaverton, Oregon and their "Signal Power Map" showed GREAT 4G and 4G LTE signal strength all around me here......only been connected up for maybe 5 hours......BUT.....my phone has not changed from 3G and only smallest white bar with flash of 2nd bar once in awhile.....TERRIBLE! PLEASE tell me this is TEMPORARY......if not I just got SCAMMED.....I will be out alot of money for unuseable service.....sure HOPE not.

TKS michael

Hello there Michael.

Unfortunately, I think you're in a bad coverage area. Never ever follow a coverage map like that. Always check with sensorly or the carrier coverage app first! Those display actual coverage people have mapped.

The only other thing I can see is if they're changing the tower, which is highly unlikely.

The bright side is, your phone is LTE not WIMAX. Lte is being rolled out very quickly on sprint and it's child carriers. (including virgin, boost, etc.) So you might see lte pop up later on if they build near you !

 

[Petrah]

I just received my new Samsung Galaxy Victory 4G LTE from Virgin today....
I live in Beaverton, Oregon and their "Signal Power Map" showed GREAT 4G and 4G LTE signal strength all around me here......only been connected up for maybe 5 hours......BUT.....my phone has not changed from 3G and only smallest white bar with flash of 2nd bar once in awhile.....TERRIBLE! PLEASE tell me this is TEMPORARY......if not I just got SCAMMED.....I will be out alot of money for unuseable service.....sure HOPE not.

TKS michael

In the last 6 months in your area, Sprint has had 4 voice upgrades, 4 data capacity upgrades, and 153 data speed upgrades. They probably won't be doing anymore upgrades or working on the towers again any time soon. Looks like you're stuck with what you have unless you go with a more reliable carrier for your area.

 

[orbeavhawk]

In the last 6 months in your area, Sprint has had 4 voice upgrades, 4 data capacity upgrades, and 153 data speed upgrades. They probably won't be doing anymore upgrades or working on the towers again any time soon. Looks like you're stuck with what you have unless you go with a more reliable carrier for your area.

TKS for that INFO...............I called Virgin Tech Support this AM....and after trying several things to no avail to increase my connection speed.....he said he found the culprit, on THEIR END, he said, YES, I had "turned on" 4G on my phone BUT he found for some reason it had NOT "triggered" ON at their end...said he was sending this INFO to UPPER Techies and that sometime today they would TURN ON 4G there and I would see my 3G change to 4G on my phone. Hope and pray this is what happens and that not only that....that my service vastly improves because of it.

BTW - - -As far as I know, Virgin and Sprint are the only two carriers that accept this new phone I bought from Virgin: Samsung Galaxy Victory 4G LTE,
IF Virgin's Service continues to be "in the toilet".....and they are SPRINT carried.....does that mean that my $200 Smart Phonne must go int the toilet too? Is there another carrier that I can use it with that you know of?

THANKS, michael

 

[TDOW]

TKS for that INFO...............I called Virgin Tech Support this AM....and after trying several things to no avail to increase my connection speed.....he said he found the culprit, on THEIR END, he said, YES, I had "turned on" 4G on my phone BUT he found for some reason it had NOT "triggered" ON at their end...said he was sending this INFO to UPPER Techies and that sometime today they would TURN ON 4G there and I would see my 3G change to 4G on my phone. Hope and pray this is what happens and that not only that....that my service vastly improves because of it.

BTW - - -As far as I know, Virgin and Sprint are the only two carriers that accept this new phone I bought from Virgin: Samsung Galaxy Victory 4G LTE,
IF Virgin's Service continues to be "in the toilet".....and they are SPRINT carried.....does that mean that my $200 Smart Phonne must go int the toilet too? Is there another carrier that I can use it with that you know of?

THANKS, michael

I think you have like 30 days to return the phone for a refund if it does not work out.

 

[Larzuk]

Depending on where you purchased the phone usually there is a 30 day period in which you can return the phone for a full refund except what you paid for service. For example, Once I purchased my phone through RadioShack, If I'm not happy with the service, the phone, etc..I just return it within 30 days for my money back..No questions asked.

 

[Petrah]

TKS for that INFO...............I called Virgin Tech Support this AM....and after trying several things to no avail to increase my connection speed.....he said he found the culprit, on THEIR END, he said, YES, I had "turned on" 4G on my phone BUT he found for some reason it had NOT "triggered" ON at their end...said he was sending this INFO to UPPER Techies and that sometime today they would TURN ON 4G there and I would see my 3G change to 4G on my phone. Hope and pray this is what happens and that not only that....that my service vastly improves because of it.

Awesome! Hopefully they'll get that fixed up for you and not dilly dally around with it.

BTW - - -As far as I know, Virgin and Sprint are the only two carriers that accept this new phone I bought from Virgin: Samsung Galaxy Victory 4G LTE,
IF Virgin's Service continues to be "in the toilet".....and they are SPRINT carried.....does that mean that my $200 Smart Phonne must go int the toilet too? Is there another carrier that I can use it with that you know of?

THANKS, michael

Virgin Mobile is owned by Sprint (sorry if you were already aware). Did you get a booklet with your new phone, and if so is there a warranty section in the very back of the booklet? If not, search on the Vigrin Mobile site for your phone and see if there isn't a link for a PDF users guide that is specific for your phone. In the last section of the PDF it will go over the warranty. Normally the warranty is for a full year from the date of purchase, so if there is something wrong you can follow the guidelines in that warranty statement to return the phone.

If you bought the phone online: Be aware that when you return a phone and they send you another one, they have every legal right to send you a refurbished phone (ie; you will not be receiving a brand new phone). However, you can do what I did when I was with VM and had issues with my first Android... be polite but very persistent about getting a brand new phone. It is completely their choice if they send you a new one or not. I was very persistent and got a brand new phone.

Or; if you purchased from a local store and still have the receipt you can exchange or return it.

 

[mikeca]

Hopefully they get it straightened out, they have been trouble lately here where I am getting new phones activated properly (the 4G is new for them too) but it has been problematic to say the least. Usually gets worked out in a few days, our area is going through a bunch of upgrades and everything's been a mess to say the least. LOL! Hoping it all straightens out soon, but if it doesn't at least I'm not stuck in a 2 year contract costing thousands of dollars!

 

[mogelijk]

And to answer your question, no, there is no other carrier you can take your Victory to. Virgin Mobile does something odd when locking their phones that does not allow them to be used on other carriers, even Sprint. There are some MVNO's that allow you to bring Sprint phones, such as Ting, but Virgin Mobile phones do not work on their network.

 

[orbeavhawk]

Hopefully they get it straightened out, they have been trouble lately here where I am getting new phones activated properly (the 4G is new for them too) but it has been problematic to say the least. Usually gets worked out in a few days, our area is going through a bunch of upgrades and everything's been a mess to say the least. LOL! Hoping it all straightens out soon, but if it doesn't at least I'm not stuck in a 2 year contract costing thousands of dollars!

WHERE are YOU located? It has been over a day since their Tech S. man told me they'd have my 4G up and running, I am still on 3G and that is "barely"....I was just looking up the info on calling to get an RMA and get my Money back for the phone, $199, lose my $35 to Virgin.........BUT from what you say maybe I should wait a day or two more.....have 30 days total. What a business model, advertise screaming 4G LTE speeds, sell you a phone and at least a months' service....phone does not produce.....BUT they KEEP you service charge....YUCK! Was so excited about finally getting "SMART"!

 

[mikeca]

I am in Fresno, but the activation issues are nationwide, it's their system. It usually takes them over 24 hours to get something done. If you call them back try to get escalated to talking to someone in the US, they can usually get this stuff straightened out. Not sure why but it does take them a day or two to get these things straightened out and then all of sudden it will start working.

Not sure where I got it from (somewhere on this board) 866-553-9805 got me through to their "escalated" support about a year ago, hopefully that might also work?

On the positive at least you didn't sign a two year contract with Sprint at way higher rates and still getting the same level of support and service.

 

[orbeavhawk]

TKS "mikeca" - - - I'll try that, I called India again this AM and my new TS either cut us off or Virgin phone service did, expected her to call me back, she had the # of course....NO way. I was ready to call for setup to return the phone and get money back....but after reading your post decided to wait a day or two more....I LOVE the phone, but it is an expensive BRICK w Virgin Mobile so far.

 

[pfoneguy]

You do have the box checked for LTE/CDMA, right? settings - more settings - mobile networks - network mode - LTE/CDMA checked.
I can say that in my small city that was just listed as a 4G LTE market, the 4G LTE is a JOKE! The best the 4G signal travels is 1 mile from the tower and their coverage map for 4G shows 75% of the populated area as "fair" 4G LTE, but my testing shows that to be more like "non-existant"! The unpopulated fields have better coverage according to the Map! I also mapped a lot of what is shown on sensorly in my area and you will only know if there is coverage if someone has mapped it, so sensorly is only as accurate as the users have mapped it.

 

[orbeavhawk]

You do have the box checked for LTE/CDMA, right? settings - more settings - mobile networks - network mode - LTE/CDMA checked.

OH YES! Have checked that till blue in face............requested RMA on Phone IF I can't get enough signal strength to use the phone, I actuall LOST ALL Signal from VM other night, and even when I have 3G - it is MINIMAL....spent another session with TS in INDIA [requested US Tech to NO avail]...have at least 6 hours with TS....last one he found a CODE that he said told him that only their Engineers could solve this problem [whatever it is] and it would take 24-48 hours and they would call me.....that's what they said the last time, NEVER called! This was on Friday......I tried the Number that Mikeca shared with me but no one answered,
Will give VM until 17th or 18th before I decide to get that RMA.....going on trip and be back here on 17th....if still NO GOOD signal strength....get money back and Quit VM and start figuring where to go that won't cost me $50 or more a month.
THANKS for being here anyway............

michael