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Even though I'm posting in the Evo section of a mainly rooting community, I was hoping someone could provide a little insight onto my situation. Perhaps there is a Sprint representative on these forums who can better assist me as well.
So I purchased a new Evo June 20th after coming from 3 years of using the iPhone. I love the phone, but I've had nothing but issues with it. It's less the phone itself and more the companies surrounding it - Radio Shack, Sprint, etc.
So like I stated before, I got my Evo on June 20th. After using it a few days I noticed I had terrible signal at home. Normally if I was using the phone for personal reasons only, I could live with it, but I do work 1-2 days per week from home so not having voice service is a pretty big deal to me. After about 7-9 of fighting with the signal loss while walking around my home looking for a sweet spot (Also while on the phone with Spring customer service) They told me it was probably my home or area and that they couldnt guarantee coverage everywhere. My issue with this is, I've test all the carriers in my home. ATT, Tmobile, and Verizon get a minimum of 3 bars in my house. I dont like out in the middle of nowhere, I live in the suburbs of Houston. All other carriers penetrate into my home just fine, except Sprint. Well after arguing with Sprint reps over and over, I finally decided to take it to the Sprint store.
After waiting in a terribly long line (45 min), I was finally speaking to a Sprint rep. I told them about my issues and asked if there was anything I could do. He stated there was a booster that was $99. I flat out denied this as I thought it was ridiculous I had to pay more money just to get voice signal (something that was shown to be EXCELLENT coverage in their computers). He played with the phone for a second, then stated that an update would be coming out shortly that would improve the Wifi, 4G, and radio of the phone. The rep suggested that I was still within my 30 day cancellation period and that I should wait for the update and see if that improved anything.
So, a few short days later I got the OTA message on my phone. Well, this turned out to be a huge mess because I ended up being one of those unfortunate people who had their phones bricked. So at this point I'm phoneless and very frustrated. I take the phone back to where I purchased it, Radio Shack, and they tell me they've seen other customers who had this problem and will gladly exchange the phone for me. The manager of the store states it should be here on Friday, so I say thank you and leave.
Well, the phone didnt come Friday. It didn't even come the next Friday. Yep, it came THREE Friday's later - almost 3 full weeks later. So after not having a phone for two and a half weeks, I finally get my new phone in. The radio shack rep applied the update for me in the store and I left.
Well the weekend went by and I didn't notice any dropped calls, but I wasn't using my phone heavily. Then yesterday I was working from home and my phone was finally getting put to its full use. Call after call dropped and I couldn't even hold a signal for more than 10 minutes. I eventually had to run next door and borrow a neighbors phone to finish up my convo with a client. Normally I could live with this issue for personal use, but for work it was becoming a serious problem.
So I called Sprint and explained the situation. Eventually after sitting on the phone for an hour and talking to person after person I spoke with a manager who basically said either buy the $100 booster or pay $200 to cancel your contract and leave. At that point I was furious - I didn't understand why I should be forced to pay more for something when I was already paying for signal. I explained that I originally had planned on returning the phone earlier, but that had held off at the advice from a Sprint rep I talked to, and that my phone had been broken for over 2 weeks of my 30 day trial period. She continued to iterate that there was nothing she could do. She instructed me to contact Radio Shack and see if they would accept the phone back after 30 days (I'm on day 34 right now).
I just spoke with Radio Shack but they stated I'll need to call back when the manager is in the store - which will be 3-4 hours from now. I suppose maybe I'll get lucky and I'll be able to return the phone - but I'm worried about what will happen if they refuse. I'm going to be stuck with a phone that is unusable for work, while forced to either pay $100 for a booster, or shell out another $200 for the ETF (screwing me out of $400 total).
Anyways, maybe there is nothing that can be done, maybe I'm just an idiot for not testing the phone more aggressively sooner. I'm just sharing my experience on here with the hopes that someone has come across a similar situation or perhaps someone with a Sprint customer service background.
TLDR - got an evo, noticed bad signal, Sprint said OTA would fix the issues, OTA broke phone, waited 2 weeks for replacement, tested phone, reception still suck, Sprint says im stuck.
Wow, that sucks. Sorry to hear that.
I'm curious...you do get to keep the phone if you pay the ETF, right?
If you do, I would pay the $200 ETF and sell the phone on ebay or craigslist because I really doubt the $100 booster is going to help much and with the EVO in short supply, I'm sure someone is willing to buy it.
PS: If you do, just be sure to do a factory reset so all information is erased from it.
Maybe try the Verizon PRL, I looked briefly but cant seem to find the post. It is here somewhere though. Might work for you.
Yea PRL would work, but I don't want to use up my 450 anytime minutes nor do I want to switch back and forth between PRL's. I get great service at work and other places, it's just a dead zone where I live.
Airave?
Is the signal issue only at home? Airave hooks into your broadband service and then you can make phone calls via airave and it routes the calls like Vonage. And if your service really sucks sprint will give you the device for free if you complain the right way. I have had mine for 2 weeks and have had no dropped calls at home. This won't help you outside of your house though....Just my $.02
Really?
Really for free? Sprint was adamant that I would have to purchase one. They said over and over they would not wave the fee since their computers show I'm in excellent coverage area.
I too have been with Sprint for sometime now and I have the booster and it has worked wonders for me at home my office is in my basement so I spend a great deal down there and dint get service upatairs I got 3 bars but now I can make a call anywhere and it doesn't drop or anything well worth the 100 dollars if you can't get them tk give you one for free
Are those boosters provider specific?
I was thinking about getting one for the basement, but we have Sprint and Verizon Androids in the house. Don't want to have to buy one for each carrier.
I can confirm that if your a new customer with sprint they will do absolutely nothing for you, except sell you more stuff. I just went through a very similar situation and after offering me the airwave twice for free only to double back and say no sorry its 100 bucks.
BTW if you get the airwave for free they extend your contact back to 2 years, might be worth it for some.
I'm rocking the verizon prl's now and well its decent enough to stick with it, the phone rocks.
I also got an Airave for free when I was having issues. The only problem it would have is not supporting 3G data, but I suppose if you are at home, you can use wi-fi. The best benefit I saw was paying $10/mo and getting unlimited calls while on the device since I don't have unlimited minutes.
Sprint gave me an Airave for free, waived the fee for 2 years, and didn't touch my contract. But I also have 5 towers within 1.9 miles and they compete for signal...
The thing is, while I don't drop calls within range of the Airave, it doesn't hand off to a tower like it is supposed to so it drops when I walk out of range. :/
I'm pretty pissed at Sprint right now... They had a 2 1/2 outage that affected ALL of Colorado (voice and text - data worked fine in most areas) and just gave me a 25 dollar bill credit for it - couldn't even dial 911 and when people called me phone, it was just dead air - not even voicemail. BIG NO NO! Then on top of that, the subpar 3G speeds (900kbps max, 600 average compared to 3Mbps/1.7 on at&t in the same area), I've had two data outages (another two 25 dollar bill credits) and they charged me an activation fee on my corporate liable line through Comcast which was supposed to be free so I'm fighting to get that waived.
I love the phone. Hate the service.
Call this #: 866 556 7310
A Sprint representative will pick up directly- no machines.
*edit* If the above number doesn't work out for you, try: 855-790-4878 (thanks coldcaffeine)
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=25069171&postcount=145
Tell them you've been having problems getting a signal where you live and have to walk around outside to use it.
They sent me a free AIRAVE. I mentioned this to my coworker a few days later and they sent him a free one too
[edit 12-27-11]
Was curious about this myself:
page 6 of Airave FAQs @ nextel.com:
29. Can other Sprint customers use my Sprint AIRAVE?
All Sprint customers with a Sprint phone can use the AIRAVE and benefit from the
enhanced coverage as long as you have not restricted the AIRAVE. However, the
“visiting” customer must have the Unlimited AIRAVE Voice calling Plan on their
own account in order to take advantage of unlimited domestic calling.
30. Can I limit access to my Sprint AIRAVE?
Yes, you can limit access to your AIRAVE device by creating a list of approved
Sprint phone numbers (up to 50 phone numbers). You can create your list by
calling Sprint Customer Service at (866) 556-731
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
[edit 08-18-12]
See following post about how to configure who can access your AIRWAVE (and also to set the zip code for where it will be used):
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=29087683&postcount=194
[edit 08-18-12]
Some uses report problems with certain websites/ internet connectivity when using the AIRWAVE behind a router.
See following posts for reports/ solutions:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=30233927&postcount=206
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=30234036&postcount=207
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=30236434&postcount=208
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=30236557&postcount=209
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=30403429&postcount=214
This seems a little sketchy... Are you sure they're not charging you a monthly fee?
Master Thief-117 said:
This seems a little sketchy... Are you sure they're not charging you a monthly fee?
Click to expand...
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I'm pretty sure they're not :]
Although they still own it, so once I am no longer using it/ cancel my account they're going to take it back.
My primary device shows:
`Your agreement with us, which started on xx/xx/xx, will be completed on xx/xx/xx.`
The AIRAVE shows:
`You have no agreement or your agreement with us is complete.`
You don't get charged a "service fee" but it is considered a "line" so you are charged the $1.49 "administrative surcharge". Also you are charged electricity every month to fix a Sprint issue.
This is NOT really a big deal, but I estimate you are paying around $30-$36/yr to fix a Sprint problem.
I did this.
I got my new service and part of my house didn't have service and would roam, I was really upset because I really liked the phone and wanted to stay on Sprint.
They offered the Airave and sent it out, service is great. I don't mind paying the 1.49 or whatever if that's true.
Got one after I picked up the evo3d and couldn't get a signal in my house. Now I don't need one I turned it off. For some reason it dosent work half the time.
Well, I hadn't seen this before 10 minutes ago.
I called the direct # in the OP, guy picks up the phone on the first ring.
5 MINUTES later, and I have a new, completely free Airrave being shipped to my house.
Thanks, OP... I prolly never would have even messed with the whole thing if you hadn't made the process so simple.
**** like this is why I love XDA.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
I got one awhile ago, no fees or anything. Im sure it uses a fraction of the electricity a light bulb uses. I got one primarily due to basement coverage, but every carrier has poor coverage in my basement.
Its worth it, its tougher to make a deal with sprint when you're in an excellent coverage zone like I am. They told me they don't guarantee coverage indoors bit then they sent me a free airave.
Also your account has to have enough available credit and be in good standing, even though its "free"
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
I live in a three family home and there are four or five phones in my building in Brooklyn.
As of three days ago we allbjave been having problems with sprint service in a 3 block radius. I called sprint and worked with one of the reps and after a few phone calls she is sending this device to us. It's funny because we have been living on this block for 5 years with sprint and never had a probably and supposedly they don't know what the problem is.
bbedward said:
I got one awhile ago, no fees or anything. Im sure it uses a fraction of the electricity a light bulb uses. I got one primarily due to basement coverage, but every carrier has poor coverage in my basement.
Its worth it, its tougher to make a deal with sprint when you're in an excellent coverage zone like I am. They told me they don't guarantee coverage indoors bit then they sent me a free airave.
Also your account has to have enough available credit and be in good standing, even though its "free"
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm in an excellent coverage zone, but Sprint doesn't get service in my basement... T mobile got full bars anywhere in my home.
I've had one for about a year and the 3G version (current offering) has been invaluable to me. My data speeds are 1800-2300 kbps deep within what I'm convinced is a bunker of a basement, texting and voice calls are great, and of course there is a noticeable improvement in battery life as a result.
Downsides include unreliable operation (unit goes offline at times requiring a reboot), incompatibility with texting certain short codes like 1311, and power consumption. It gets pretty warm...
Not worth the regular monthly fee and purchase price; definitely worth when offered as a concession.
I've had two Sprint Airaves, one for Illinois (Verizon Land) and one in South Texas (Sprint Land). I got the one in Texas to try and fix LOS. It only helped my giving a much stronger signal.
If you go this route, get the Airave that has the external GPS Antenna. Airave works best in GPS antenna is in or close to window.
My first Airave didn't have external GPS Antenne, but I was lucky and a window was close to DSL wireless router.
Hope this helps someone.
I live in a rural area where there are no sprint towers anywhere close to me. They sent me one and I have been using it for two years now strong signal no problems, free of charge.
Yea, I can voucher that they'll send one out for free to you if you needed one. It helped in my house so that I'm not always at one bar or searching for signal. Sprint's speed and coverage around my area still sucks in general.
I actually have had both of these devices. The first one was the Samsung Airave that worked decently except it only did 1xrtt data..which blew chunks. I ended up getting the new Sprint Airvana due to the fact the Airave was having issues with my HTC Evo 4G. The Airvana supports 3G data speeds over your broadband connection. Coverage on these devices are actually pretty good. If you call into Sprint Airave department they can acutally change the coverage output on the Airvana so that it covers up to I believe 5000sqft. I actually did this when I lived in a downstair apartment and the phone would disconnect right outside my door...after the update the airvana would go across the street. I would really recommend you get one of these if you have coverage issues...call the department, tell them your issue they will send you one. Also make sure they don't charge you a month fee for it. It should show you getting charged and then credited on your bill. I have a new one coming out next week (lost cables) and hopefully my Epic 4G Touch works well with it.
Thank you so much for this! I just did this and they're sending me one now, too. [=
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
this might be a noob question but does airwave support 3g or 4g signal?
and i just called and the rep said he need approval from the airwave tech and once he got a approval from the tech and the supervisor which will takes about 2business day then he will send me one.
I can confirm this. I went today to get a new phone and complained about the signal in my town. The manager gave me an AirRave for free. Its a loan since I need to return it if I bail out. I did not have to pay anything for it and they are not going to charge any monthly fee. I even got the activation free!
This is all true, I'm a tech for Sprint, you just have to pay the monthly regulatory fees and taxes(mine is like $1.16). If you end your services you do have to return it, or you will be charged. It is a awesome device. Keep in mind that the airave team is open Monday through Friday 9-9 central time.
Merry Christmas °<
Sent from my PG86100 using xda premium
Yep. called last night and told the guy I was Googling ways to improve my sprint signal and came across some info with the number and decided to call. He asked what was happening and I told him I was getting the roaming indicator alot while at home. Told him I was really happy with my service when I was out running around it just kinda sucked at home. He said OK and set up and order for the air wave. Should have it before too long. Just asked if I had DSL or broadband. Thats it. Took like five minutes total. Thanks a ton for the info.
So I'm moving to a new apartment in a couple of weeks, and the area is notorious for having crappy sprint coverage. Being as that I'm a 3rd party retailer for sprint, my rep set me up with a free airrave, no questions asked.
MY question is, does the Airrave have some sort of password protection so that i won't have 5 neighbors constantly using my Airrave? I know it works through my internet, so I don't want to have a bunch of people slowing down my internet.
Also, I was reading about an issue with text messaging with the airrave. Does anyone know if they fixed the problem yet?
Slash8915 said:
So I'm moving to a new apartment in a couple of weeks, and the area is notorious for having crappy sprint coverage. Being as that I'm a 3rd party retailer for sprint, my rep set me up with a free airrave, no questions asked.
MY question is, does the Airrave have some sort of password protection so that i won't have 5 neighbors constantly using my Airrave? I know it works through my internet, so I don't want to have a bunch of people slowing down my internet.
Also, I was reading about an issue with text messaging with the airrave. Does anyone know if they fixed the problem yet?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can lock your airave to just your number. And I have no problems at all when using the airave, texting, calling, or data
Slash8915 said:
MY question is, does the Airrave have some sort of password protection so that i won't have 5 neighbors constantly using my Airrave? I know it works through my internet, so I don't want to have a bunch of people slowing down my internet.
Also, I was reading about an issue with text messaging with the airrave. Does anyone know if they fixed the problem yet?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Airrave has made a tremendous difference for my coverage at home-- I live 35 flights in the sky here in Chicago and prior to the Airrave there were some places in my condo unit that I got full signal strength and other places within the unit that I got no signal; with the Airrave I am full strength and no longer need to worry about missed calls/texts due to my phone being in one of the dead zones in my unit.
I don't have password protection enabled on the Airrave (my Wi-Fi & broadband is PW protected) and haven't noticed a negative impact on my web speeds due to the potential of other's accessing Airrave. I would be happy to see if PW protection makes a difference if you'd like me to test it out.
As far as the sending of texts issue-- yes on RARE occasions w/the E4GT on wi-fi (which is connected to Airrave) I will get a Failed message when trying to send a text (surprisingly NO issues receiving texts, I even get texts at the same time I am getting Failed to Send notifications). My solutions, both which have worked consistently: 1) Disconnect the E4GT from wi-fi and try to resend 2) If that doesn't work reboot and try to resend.
Hope that helps
There is a way to lock it down so only you could use it.. and possibly any other lines on your acct. However when i asked sprint about it they either didnt want to hassle with it or it really doesnt matter because they didnt want me to lockit down.. either way it has a certain range which can be extended.. i think 800ft then can be extendended to a certain amt of feet. Rarely does it have issues and the only thing they make you do is reset everything. The speeds are still 3g speeds but where you have no service it works perfectly.. i use the antennae and have it close to the ceiling (i have two floors) and of course practically in thw window which is needed to maintain a good gps lock.. other than that, cant complain about something your using free of charge. There is also the time i wanted the gs2.. and what would ya know, my airrave was elig for a full upgrade ;-). So got the sgs2, did esn chng with my line, switched airrave back, sold the og epic.. win/win situation!
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA
Slash8915 said:
So I'm moving to a new apartment in a couple of weeks, and the area is notorious for having crappy sprint coverage. Being as that I'm a 3rd party retailer for sprint, my rep set me up with a free airrave, no questions asked.
MY question is, does the Airrave have some sort of password protection so that i won't have 5 neighbors constantly using my Airrave? I know it works through my internet, so I don't want to have a bunch of people slowing down my internet.
Also, I was reading about an issue with text messaging with the airrave. Does anyone know if they fixed the problem yet?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Once you get it...it'll be an active line on your account.. click and open it online and put in numbers you only want to have access.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
The moment you get your airwave up and running marks the end of texting as you know it. It is really that bad.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2
revamper said:
The moment you get your airwave up and running marks the end of texting as you know it. It is really that bad.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2
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Lol probably a sprint issue in your area..no problems here at all.. once upon a time there was until i got my airrave replaced.. no problems since and ive been on it over a year
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA
revamper said:
The moment you get your airwave up and running marks the end of texting as you know it. It is really that bad.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Had mine 6 months and haven't had any problems sending or receiving any texts
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2
I got my airrave in late November and hated it.
The unit caused my phone to constantly think that it was in Tulsa, OK (when in fact I live just north of Oklahoma City, OK) - which was pretty annoying as trying to get the weather or GPS navigation was pretty useless until I got out of the airrave's range.
Then I did some testing and found out that in fact I was missing a rare amount of incoming text messages - like perhaps 1 in 20 or so.
I hate missing any message so that combined with the GPS issue was enough to make me discontinue using the airrave. Fortunately by then some of the better modems for our device had been released which made it to where I didn't need the airrave just to get reliable service at home anymore. I still occasionally miss a call because it takes so long for the phone to receive notification of the call, but I'd rather miss a call than a text message, as voicemail ALWAYS goes through, whereas a missed text message just goes off into the ether.
I came to this thread hoping to see if the problems had been solved yet, but I figured I should share my issues as well. Also I tried a ton of stuff to get the airrave to work properly even with some really knowledgable sprint techs and nothing worked - there was supposed to be an update out "sometime 2012" though so not sure if that's been pushed yet or not.
Edit: Oh also, I wanted to mention that yes you can lock down the unit to only respond to your phone number(s) pretty easily. Thing has a HUGE range as well so it has that going for it. Oh and it's not a big deal for me but do keep in mind your bill will go up by $1.50 a month for that stupid "administration fee" - but you can work it to get a free upgrade out of the line sometimes so you can make it worth it for you.
Hope this helps!
The only time I needed it was when I had the evo3d, I had no signal in my house. Since I had it I've had the texting bug, it been unplugged in my kitchen for the past 3 months.
I have had the Airvana with no issues with the Evo and then Evo3D. Got my E4TG and had texting issues for the first day, then I was fine for a few months. Starting last Thursday, I can no longer receive texts from Sprint or any carrier, I can send fine. I reset the Airave at least 15 times and still the same issue. Sprint says that's just the way the Airavana model works and sometimes it has text problems. They can't explain why it worked fine for months and then just stopped. I am going to hook up my original Samsung Airave that only did 1x data and see if it still happens. I use wifi at home so no need for the Airvana 3G data, especially if I am going to have more texting issues.
I've had my airave since October 2011 and it's made a HUGE difference in service. I live in an area that the Sprint coverage map says has great voice and full 3G, but in actuality I can barely get 1 bar anywhere in my neighborhood, data is deplorable and, often I was roaming in my own apartment. Because of this I had to argue through 3 CS reps before they just gave me one without trying to charge the $120. I do not have it locked down to my number, and i have not noticed any issues with my internet speed - Netflix works flawlessly on my laptop and through my bluray. I have noticed that my phone will sometimes not switch over once in range and I have to toggle airplane mode to straighten it out. Frustrating, but rare.
I would like to know how one of the the previous posters was able to finagle an upgrade out of the Airave line though.
luckychef28 said:
I've had my airave since October 2011 and it's made a HUGE difference in service. I live in an area that the Sprint coverage map says has great voice and full 3G, but in actuality I can barely get 1 bar anywhere in my neighborhood, data is deplorable and, often I was roaming in my own apartment. Because of this I had to argue through 3 CS reps before they just gave me one without trying to charge the $120. I do not have it locked down to my number, and i have not noticed any issues with my internet speed - Netflix works flawlessly on my laptop and through my bluray. I have noticed that my phone will sometimes not switch over once in range and I have to toggle airplane mode to straighten it out. Frustrating, but rare.
I would like to know how one of the the previous posters was able to finagle an upgrade out of the Airave line though.
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+1
my airrave is awesome .. i had to ***** to like 3 people to get it free with no monthly payment but i finally got it . but when i leave my house i dont get the reception .. even like in my driveway so unless your in an apartment building with thin walls i dont think the reception would even reach anyone elses place
I love mine. You finally get some decent 3g speeds. I don't think you have to worry about locking it though. The range isn't that far and you have to also take into account that not everyone has a sprint phone. Plus it doesn't effect my computer speeds at home. We can have Netflix going on two computers and i can talk on the phone with no hiccups.
Sent from Team KC's founding member HTC Evo 4G LTE.
Thanks for the replies, everyone. Where I currently live, I have decent coverage, but I wanted to have it before I moved. I REALLY hope I don't have any text issues, because that would really irritate me. As far as admin fees, I doubt I'll be charged anything. Being as that I'm a store manager, every fee so far has been waived. It also meant I was able to get my E4GT for $50 the day it came out.
I have the texting issue... they have reset the air rave continuously, replaced it twice... and it still base the same problem. Doesn't matter if I am connected to wifi or not.
Slash8915 said:
Thanks for the replies, everyone. Where I currently live, I have decent coverage, but I wanted to have it before I moved. I REALLY hope I don't have any text issues, because that would really irritate me. As far as admin fees, I doubt I'll be charged anything. Being as that I'm a store manager, every fee so far has been waived. It also meant I was able to get my E4GT for $50 the day it came out.
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The Epic 4G Touch forum, as well as the XDA site is rife with complaints about the Airave. I had it and I had the problem with handing off calls once I left its range but my kids had tons of problems with text messages queuing up. Others swear by it.
Just remember: You have to return it or they will charge you for the device. Not hard but when I returned mine they tried to charge me. I think it was $250. I kept my tracking number tho so no problem... Except for one more 30 minute to Sprint.
Do not, I repeat do not lock the airrave down so only you can use it.
This results in anyone else trying to use a sprint phone within the airraves coverage not able to get service at all.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
R1ptide said:
Do not, I repeat do not lock the airrave down so only you can use it.
This results in anyone else trying to use a sprint phone within the airraves coverage not able to get service at all.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
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And yet if you don't lock it down you allow anybody with Sprint service to use your internet... unlimited... unknowingly... Yeah, the last thing I want is for my wacked out neighbor downloading kiddie porn through my internet connection.
All I did was call customer service, complained that my 4G speed was worse than my 3G speed (it really is most of the time!) and after a few transfers and no arguments, my AirRave should arrive this Wednesday.
So those who have tried to get one of these boxes before, you might try the 4G vs 3G argument like I did and I had no problems getting one!
AiRave does NOTHING for 4G-WiMax. Period. Besides, if you have broadband at home, the best connection speed you're going to get is limited to your broadband speed, so you might as well just use Wi-Fi.
It is mainly for call quality but will raise your 3G speeds but will do nothing for your 4G
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
Lol, I just sent mine back. Just about the only thing worse than dealing with crappy Sprint service is using the Airave. GPS would cut out overnight most of the time (yes I had the antenna next to the window, whereas my phone would pick up a GPS signal even away from the windows), and when it worked, the voice quality was terrible with constant stuttering. I hope you have better luck with your device than I did.
sputnik767 said:
Lol, I just sent mine back. Just about the only thing worse than dealing with crappy Sprint service is using the Airave. GPS would cut out overnight most of the time (yes I had the antenna next to the window, whereas my phone would pick up a GPS signal even away from the windows), and when it worked, the voice quality was terrible with constant stuttering. I hope you have better luck with your device than I did.
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I had your luck with the airave when I had to use one a few years back, although it helped a little (I had no signal despite being a half mile from a tower) with calls it was more a pain in the butt to deal with, especially whenever the power went out and I had to get it up and running again.
And I must've done something wrong because no matter what I said I couldn't get them to send one for free lol I even had to drive down the road from my house to call them and request one, told the guy "I'm sitting in the parking lot of the mall down the road because I can't call you from home", he was like "wow that's bad". Uh, duh.
Also it seems like I paid $4.99 a month (on top of the $99 I paid for the device) and that only covered two lines on my five line account, I would've had to pay more to have it cover the other numbers. I hope they've improved the service since then.
iSaint said:
It is mainly for call quality but will raise your 3G speeds but will do nothing for your 4G
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
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Yes, I know that it has nothing to do with 4G, I just like sticking it to Sprint and getting free stuff from them!
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
I got mine for free and it worked like a cgarm minus a few sms issues but didnt last long for me.. even used it to upgrade to the sgs2 last year when it came out.. signed a 2yr contract on it.. however dont have wifi right now so they sent a letter to return it or be charged for it.. so i called and they cancelled the line and sent for a return kit all not costing anything.. now im eligible for a third line and since itd be new can get a new phone at discounted price and we needed a third line anyways win win situation and then some!
Sent from my SPH-D710 using XDA
Esoteric68 said:
I had your luck with the airave when I had to use one a few years back, although it helped a little (I had no signal despite being a half mile from a tower) with calls it was more a pain in the butt to deal with, especially whenever the power went out and I had to get it up and running again.
And I must've done something wrong because no matter what I said I couldn't get them to send one for free lol I even had to drive down the road from my house to call them and request one, told the guy "I'm sitting in the parking lot of the mall down the road because I can't call you from home", he was like "wow that's bad". Uh, duh.
Also it seems like I paid $4.99 a month (on top of the $99 I paid for the device) and that only covered two lines on my five line account, I would've had to pay more to have it cover the other numbers. I hope they've improved the service since then.
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I got mine for free. Everything was an they even said so over the phone. I've had no problems. **** don't even have the GPS antenna near a window. The only bad thing I've experienced is if i'm talking in my house an go to leave. I get disconnected. Better then having to stand next to a window or move around the house.
Esoteric68 said:
I had your luck with the airave when I had to use one a few years back, although it helped a little (I had no signal despite being a half mile from a tower) with calls it was more a pain in the butt to deal with, especially whenever the power went out and I had to get it up and running again.
And I must've done something wrong because no matter what I said I couldn't get them to send one for free lol I even had to drive down the road from my house to call them and request one, told the guy "I'm sitting in the parking lot of the mall down the road because I can't call you from home", he was like "wow that's bad". Uh, duh.
Also it seems like I paid $4.99 a month (on top of the $99 I paid for the device) and that only covered two lines on my five line account, I would've had to pay more to have it cover the other numbers. I hope they've improved the service since then.
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wow, youve been getting ripped, i had the old samsung airave when i called to complain about the service at my home, they fedexed me one for free overnight and charged me $4.99 every month but with a $4.99 credit every month as long as i kept that service on my plan. i noticed when torrenting i had ****ty ****ty call quality, the original samsung device also did not help evdo speeds with my then smartphone, it was a PITA so i unplugged it about a year ago and its been sitting in my closet until about a month ago when i decided to call sprint again, i told them it hadnt been powering up and if i could exchange it, they sent me out a new model called the airvana and i shipped the old one back, it was a bit of a hassle to get the new one activated but i guess that was because i just called *2 from my sprint line, i let it sit a few hours as they said and it never worked, so i call the 866 number on the instructions like i should have in the first place and they got it all set up and it was active within the 1st hour of placing that call...since then i've upgraded my time warner cable to verizon fios 25/25, call quality is great and it was horrible before. also my 3g at home sucked ass, it felt like the worst 1x signal so i always have to use wifi, however with the new airvana i tested the 3g speeds it puts out and its not bad, much better than the ****ty cell towers 3g to my house, i prefer the high speed of wifi when i'm home though so i'll continue to use 802.11g/n when i can, i guess the 3g is good for when sprint guests come over so i wont have to give them my wpa2 password
t0mmyr said:
wow, youve been getting ripped, i had the old samsung airave when i called to complain about the service at my home, they fedexed me one for free overnight and charged me $4.99 every month but with a $4.99 credit every month as long as i kept that service on my plan. i noticed when torrenting i had ****ty ****ty call quality, the original samsung device also did not help evdo speeds with my then smartphone, it was a PITA so i unplugged it about a year ago and its been sitting in my closet until about a month ago when i decided to call sprint again, i told them it hadnt been powering up and if i could exchange it, they sent me out a new model called the airvana and i shipped the old one back, it was a bit of a hassle to get the new one activated but i guess that was because i just called *2 from my sprint line, i let it sit a few hours as they said and it never worked, so i call the 866 number on the instructions like i should have in the first place and they got it all set up and it was active within the 1st hour of placing that call...since then i've upgraded my time warner cable to verizon fios 25/25, call quality is great and it was horrible before. also my 3g at home sucked ass, it felt like the worst 1x signal so i always have to use wifi, however with the new airvana i tested the 3g speeds it puts out and its not bad, much better than the ****ty cell towers 3g to my house, i prefer the high speed of wifi when i'm home though so i'll continue to use 802.11g/n when i can, i guess the 3g is good for when sprint guests come over so i wont have to give them my wpa2 password
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lol I only used it for a year and disconnected the thing over two years ago. I now live in a good signal area and recently donated my device to Sprint, along with an old, old blackberry for recycling.
FYI, the AirRave is NOT completely free. Since it counts as another line, you pay additional fees. In my case it was ~$3 per month. It was a nightmare to get them to refund it.
Mattheyu said:
FYI, the AirRave is NOT completely free. Since it counts as another line, you pay additional fees. In my case it was ~$3 per month. It was a nightmare to get them to refund it.
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Actually, if they give it to you as a service promotion, it's completely free as is the unit itself.
However, the unit is on LOAN, they want it back if/when you terminate sprint service or they will charge you for it.
Mine is 100% free, no charge, nada. So, you can get it free.
Compusmurf said:
Actually, if they give it to you as a service promotion, it's completely free as is the unit itself.
However, the unit is on LOAN, they want it back if/when you terminate sprint service or they will charge you for it. I was told it was automatic because on their end, it is an additional phone line.
Mine is 100% free, no charge, nada. So, you can get it free.
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I guarantee that if you look at the breakdown of Sprint Surcharges at the end of your bill, it increased when they added the AirRave. I was told it was automatic since on their end, it appears as a second line, which means the fees for a second line.
On mine, it was:
Administrative fee - $1.50 for one line to $3.00 with the AirRave)
Regulatory charge - $0.40 to $0.80
State Cost Recovery Fee - $0.30 - $0.60
Slightly higher taxes
Also on the bill: "Sprint Surcharges are rates we choose to collect from you..."
That means Sprint is NOT required to collect those by law or regulation. Since they are, it is a fee/charge.
I am in an area with horrible reception so bad that without the air rave my phone would be useless that thing helped me a LOT I went from always roaming to always full bars! Only problem is it seems to make my wifi a bit slower but nothing enough to complain about.
Mattheyu said:
I guarantee that if you look at the breakdown of Sprint Surcharges at the end of your bill, it increased when they added the AirRave. I was told it was automatic since on their end, it appears as a second line, which means the fees for a second line.
On mine, it was:
Administrative fee - $1.50 for one line to $3.00 with the AirRave)
Regulatory charge - $0.40 to $0.80
State Cost Recovery Fee - $0.30 - $0.60
Slightly higher taxes
Also on the bill: "Sprint Surcharges are rates we choose to collect from you..."
That means Sprint is NOT required to collect those by law or regulation. Since they are, it is a fee/charge.
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****, you're right, for the past 2 years I've been paying about $2-$3 in taxes for this 3rd line of crap they were supposed to be providing at no charge
heres mine:
Federal-Univ Serv Assess Non-LD ............................................................. $1.89
California State-PUC User Fee .................................................................... $0.08
Administrative Charge ................................................................................ $4.50
Regulatory Charge ...................................................................................... $1.20
$7.67
The thing that blows me away is that you have to spend hundreds of dollars on a carrier like sprint, then on top of it have to go through this kinda of BS to even get a signal in your home so you can receive calls etc....something wrong with this picture.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2
Duce HD2 said:
The thing that blows me away is that you have to spend hundreds of dollars on a carrier like sprint, then on top of it have to go through this kinda of BS to even get a signal in your home so you can receive calls etc....something wrong with this picture.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2
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You do realize there are other carriers besides sprint right?
My general cell phone rule of thumb, never get a carrier just because of a phone.
It burns when I Tapatalk...
Love my airvana. Had the issue where the phone would think it failed to send a text and it would send like twenty but they fixed it a few months back.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2
jklong03 said:
Yes, I know that it has nothing to do with 4G, I just like sticking it to Sprint and getting free stuff from them!
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
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It's nothing special. Sprint gives away free Airaves like they can't get rid of them fast enough. Just tell them your signal has degraded and they'll usually hook you up with no questions asked. Problem is, a lot of us have them for legit reasons. My signal here was great for years and years, then one day it dropped like a rock, was lucky to get more than 1 bar. It's been that way ever since.
I called today to complain to sprint anD they apologized and said 10% of my calls were being dropped due to upgrade to NV and my data was bad because of it and since i been a longtime customer and have 3 lines i will be getting a 35 dollar credit for 4 months ohh and NV and LTE will be LIVE in chicago Sept 7
Im on my SG3
Were you expecting something from us?
Who quoted you Sept 7th?
And you believed them?...
@sunsparc no and no one like a smart ass
Im just telling you guys that are having the same issues so you guys can get a credit also
Im on my SG3
Yeah I've been having the same problems with my service and got the same response. Though this was back in July, so I never got the notice on LTE. Good looking out!!
so upgrades in one state can effect another state hundreds of miles away? :good:
Take those ETAs with a dumptruck full of salt.
I had a few hour layover at O'Hare yesterday and the Sprint network was horrible. Granted, last time I flew through I was rocking WiMax on my EVO, but I was expecting 3G to at least... work. My poor S3 couldn't get above dialup speeds, when it even worked at all. I hope for Sprint's sake that it was due to NV and that it won't take too long to complete.
Oh my service is terrible right now. Every other calls drops. I'll definitely call them up on Monday and see if I can get credit on my bill too. I've been with them a while and I have 4 business lines.
And did they ACTUALLY tell you Sept. 7th?
__________________________
Sent from the Sprint SGS3
Other devices - Nexus 7, NS4G, Epic 4g, Nook Tablet, Nook Simple Touch
ButtaKnife said:
I had a few hour layover at O'Hare yesterday and the Sprint network was horrible. Granted, last time I flew through I was rocking WiMax on my EVO, but I was expecting 3G to at least... work. My poor S3 couldn't get above dialup speeds, when it even worked at all. I hope for Sprint's sake that it was due to NV and that it won't take too long to complete.
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Yeah, it's most likely from NV. The Chicago market is being a ***** for Sprint to upgrade because the legacy (Motorola) equipment isn't compatible with the new (Samsung) equipment. Plus, the tower upgrades are happening way faster than Sprint can deploy the new backhaul, so dropped calls and bad data service are pretty common here. But things are picking up. By me in the suburbs, data speeds went from 300Kb/s at 3:30am to 1.5Mb/s at the same time in the same places. It shouldn't be too long now before NV is done and we get LTE.
Edit: Sep. 7 would be amazing. But isn't that around the time Baltimore is being launched? And didn't Sprint say that the Baltimore launch would be accompanied only by a few more markets in GA, KS, and TX? I'm personally hoping for Oct., maybe mid- to late-September.
Yes the sprint rep told me that september 7 nv will launch and that lte will be on live in chicago
Im on my SG3
So I Chatted...
boogief1 said:
I called today to complain to sprint anD they apologized and said 10% of my calls were being dropped due to upgrade to NV and my data was bad because of it and since i been a longtime customer and have 3 lines i will be getting a 35 dollar credit for 4 months ohh and NV and LTE will be LIVE in chicago Sept 7
Im on my SG3
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So I chatted with Sprint today and to make a long story short, I will be getting NO credit for the dropped calls and poor service I am getting. Yes, I have two lines and yes, I have been a long time customer. :crying::crying::crying:
nextohel said:
So I chatted with Sprint today and to make a long story short, I will be getting NO credit for the dropped calls and poor service I am getting. Yes, I have two lines and yes, I have been a long time customer. :crying::crying::crying:
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Call executive services... Google the number. Our email [email protected] they use to be great.granted lately they suck but maybe you'll get a useful person
Sent from my SPH-L710...if some one helps you press the thanks button
When I asked about LTE in denver colorado I was told between 2 months and 2 years. SWEET!
xtrezpasor said:
Call executive services... Google the number. Our email [email protected] they use to be great.granted lately they suck but maybe you'll get a useful person
Sent from my SPH-L710...if some one helps you press the thanks button
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Dont waste your time with this. In spite of them admitting all my problems were with their network, they did nothing for me. Sprint sucks but we're the suckers for staying with them.
I have already seen LTE in the northwest suburbs (Bartlett at Army Trail and rt. 59). I don't think September 7th is a solid date, maybe a handful of sites will be ready but I don't think every area that is supposed to get it will get it by then. We can only hope!
i have called every week for the past 5 weeks; they really dont care that it doesnt work; i get no signal at work or my house when it used to be at least 3 bars; hoping for an improvement
Bad Service in Michigan
I'm getting pretty bad service in Michigan, lots of dead zones and dropped calls... I'm going to get my parents to try this and see if they do anything. (My parents pay for the phone service)
Maybe we should organize a "Sprint Sucks" day on Facebook. Im frankly tired of shelling out full price for half the service every month. I bet when those people that we have to talk to deal with someone like Time Warner, they dont expect to be told "Well, we know youre paying full price but we're only giving you half service and we know it but youre in a contract so be okay with it and eventually we'll get around to fixing it."
It blows me away how they just dont care and people wonder why Sprint is in so much trouble financially.