Help Benefit of *228?

[Henweigh]

I've had my Fascinate for about a week, and have experienced a few calls wherein the person on the other end of the line can't hear me speaking. My sister's husband just told me I should dial *228, and choose option 2, that it may improve my call quality. I just did this twice, the second time being that I was going to try option 1 (program phone), but then got scared of what that may do and picked option 2 again.

So, I guess this updates your PRL? Preferred Roaming List? I know this has something to do with looking for cell towers, but don't really understand. I was reading about it online but... might this actually help call quality? Is there any downside to it? Can it hurt your phone? Is there any reason to dial *228 and choose option 1?

 

[saps]

I've had my Fascinate for about a week, and have experienced a few calls wherein the person on the other end of the line can't hear me speaking. My sister's husband just told me I should dial *228, and choose option 2, that it may improve my call quality. I just did this twice, the second time being that I was going to try option 1 (program phone), but then got scared of what that may do and picked option 2 again.

So, I guess this updates your PRL? Preferred Roaming List? I know this has something to do with looking for cell towers, but don't really understand. I was reading about it online but... might this actually help call quality? Is there any downside to it? Can it hurt your phone? Is there any reason to dial *228 and choose option 1?

No down side and usually it does nothing especially if no new towers have been added but it wont hurt anything. No reason to pick option 1 either once your phone is up and running but it also will not hurt anything. Go with option 2 in your case but that probably wont improve you call quality to be honest

 

[nitsuj17]

everytime i flash a new rom on my inc i go *22899 and it 3g seems more stable and i get more bars of reception. Worst case scenario it doesnt hurt you, but I have yet to do it my sf

 

[Kabob]

everytime i flash a new rom on my inc i go *22899 and it 3g seems more stable and i get more bars of reception. Worst case scenario it doesnt hurt you, but I have yet to do it my sf

What's the extra "99" on the end do?

 

[tonyb81]

What's the extra "99" on the end do?

It bypasses you having to press 1 or 2 after you dial *228, it just runs it all automatically.

 

[nitsuj17]

It bypasses you having to press 1 or 2 after you dial *228, it just runs it all automatically.

yup its quicker then reboots after

 

[Kabob]

Ahh, so it automaticly updates the roaming?

 

[saps]

everytime i flash a new rom on my inc i go *22899 and it 3g seems more stable and i get more bars of reception. Worst case scenario it doesnt hurt you, but I have yet to do it my sf

It bypasses you having to press 1 or 2 after you dial *228, it just runs it all automatically.

Learn something new every day. Thanks boys.

 

[suXor]

*228 does 2 things:

Option 1: Programs your MIN/MDN/SID and loads the latest PRL for your rate plan
Option 2: Just the PRL

*22899 performs the Option 1 above without any user interaction.

Most of the time, *228 causes a placebo effect on the user as the PRL changes very infrequently. You can see your PRL version in the System Info. Very unlikely it will change if you did this any more than every other month. Even then, the chances that it changed anything in your specific market is unlikely. Generally it is changes in roaming partners.

 

[nitsuj17]

*228 does 2 things:

Option 1: Programs your MIN/MDN/SID and loads the latest PRL for your rate plan
Option 2: Just the PRL

*22899 performs the Option 1 above without any user interaction.

Most of the time, *228 causes a placebo effect on the user as the PRL changes very infrequently. You can see your PRL version in the System Info. Very unlikely it will change if you did this any more than every other month. Even then, the chances that it changed anything in your specific market is unlikely. Generally it is changes in roaming partners.

Im sure its mostly placebo effect, but on my inc after flashing new roms/kernels id almost always be at zero bars and 1x or spotty 3g, did *22899 and its back to normal. Maybe it has something to do with how the rom was built relative to the developers location/setup, or maybe thats just something I convinced myself of , either way it can't hurt.

 

[abowlofsoda]

check your status bar when the problem occurs and see if your have a microphone symbol with a no symbol. I believe you have the muting problem like I do.

no idea whats causing it so far but I suspect the dialer app at this time.

 

[mmurphy1968]

*228 will do nothing to improve reception, if it appears to it is just the placebo effect. It also will not update your towers, you phone will always pick up a tower from your carrier, new or old. What *228 opt 2 does do is update your Preferred Roaming List (PRL), which is a set of instructions that tells the phone what the coverage area is when not on your carrier's network. These instructions do not change as often as everyone thinks and when they do the changes usually only effect a certain area so unless you travel to that area you will not be impacted. If you are on an older rate plan it may be necessary to update your PRL if changing to a newer plan since not all plans that were offered in the past offer the same coverage area as a newer plan.