Is it normal for Sprint signal to be so much lower than roaming signal?
 

My Sprint EVDO signal usually sits between 2 and 4 bars (out of it looks like 6) with it going to 0 or 1 periodically. Where I go to school I end up switching back and forth between Sprint and roaming because of a weak Sprint signal and when it's on roaming it's almost always 5 or 6 bars. Then it'll switch back to 0 or 1 Sprint bars.

This is first very frustrating because it KILLS my battery. I'll go from 8am - 6pm and use 25% of the battery (75% remaining) but then I go in to class and with the switching back and forth my battery is done in another 1-2 hours. I'm wondering if this is just a Sprint issue with my phone in particular or if this is normal? Just seems strange that my roaming signal (even where Sprint sucks) is always at like 5-6 bars and my Sprint signal never gets above 4 and is usually 2-3.

Re: Is it normal for Sprint signal to be so much lower than roaming signal?
 

this is a recurring problem that cannot be fixed because your Sprint coverage doesn't change unless Sprint puts more towers in your area. You can though install a cab that will allow you select roam only while in school so your phone won't be bouncing back and forth. I have a roaming cab that I will attach. Just unzip this on your desktop, save it to your device and run the cab. After installation, you can go to Phone>Menu>Options>Services>Roaming>Get Settings>Select Roam only.

Then just switch back to Sprint only when you are in better coverage. Hope this helps.

Re: Is it normal for Sprint signal to be so much lower than roaming signal?
 

I think I already have that installed as part of OMJ's ROM. I guess I can just use that in school but I wish there was an easier way to toggle it! Not exactly the quickest thing in the world to do. It's strange that I have so many less bars now than on my old phone (Samsung M610) but I think it may be that on that phone it was on 1x unless I was on the web and this one constantly shows the Ev strength. When I actually make or receive a call and it jumps down to 1x it seems like my signal strength meter always goes up.

Re: Is it normal for Sprint signal to be so much lower than roaming signal?
 

yes, I think your right. the display is different on the diamond. when you make a call, the 1x bars are much higher. I agree that there should be an easier way to switch to roam only. Sprint probably wouldn't want to implement this either. oh well. I think you will definitely see better results forcing roaming in poor coverage areas for Sprint. the thing is no matter what we do, the diamond is a smartphone with less the average battery life but so are most smartphones with the capability these devices have. good luck.

Re: Is it normal for Sprint signal to be so much lower than roaming signal?
 

You're observing a Sprint marginal area combined with the full power of CDMA. The truth is, your phone isn't capable of EVDO while making phone calls nor text messages because of the limitations of EVDO, but EVDV was the solution for this. Guess why we don't use EVDV? Simple, money.

Just keep pestering Sprint for a tower and something may happen, otherwise just keep forcing roam and hope your plan covers it.

Re: Is it normal for Sprint signal to be so much lower than roaming signal?
 

So while I may only see 0-3 bars for EVDO service, does it mean that I really have 4-5 bars of phone/email service that's just not displaying? I'm more worried about missing calls when my signal looks really low but if it has that strong 1x signal that's just not being displayed it's not really that big a deal.

On another note, is the 0-3 bars for Ev the reason I can't get any higher than 500kbps data speed? No matter how many times I run a speed test I always end up in the 450-500kbps range.