This just in from the Sprint Facebook page - This time regarding Froyo...

[jbearamus]

Originally Posted by ericmcintire

Question, does anyone know if updating the PRL to verizons means you won't find any 4G towers? I just did the hack and my 3g speeds are 10x faster (literally) but I want to make sure when I'm in a 4g area I'll be able to use it.

couple things,
1. if you run a prl update it should pick up the towers for whichever service you're using
2. you'll only be able to use 4G if you have a WiMax capable device, which if you're running a TP2 as your profile says you won't be able to use it and in the future as sprint and verizon use different technologies and frequencies for their 4G you could have a 4G verizon device and it won't run on sprint's 4G because you're looking at WiMax vs. LTE

[ericmcintire]

Originally Posted by jbearamus

couple things,
1. if you run a prl update it should pick up the towers for whichever service you're using
2. you'll only be able to use 4G if you have a WiMax capable device, which if you're running a TP2 as your profile says you won't be able to use it and in the future as sprint and verizon use different technologies and frequencies for their 4G you could have a 4G verizon device and it won't run on sprint's 4G because you're looking at WiMax vs. LTE

Sorry about that, gotta update my profile, I'm on the EVO now. There is a "hack" available that actually lets you use verizon towers instead of sprint to get better service. If I run a PRL update, it will undo the hack and I'll be back on sprint towers. I'm just wondering if now that I'm using this new PRL with the verizon setup will I still be able to get 4G if I'm in a 4G area?

[jbearamus]

Originally Posted by ericmcintire

Sorry about that, gotta update my profile, I'm on the EVO now. There is a "hack" available that actually lets you use verizon towers instead of sprint to get better service. If I run a PRL update, it will undo the hack and I'll be back on sprint towers. I'm just wondering if now that I'm using this new PRL with the verizon setup will I still be able to get 4G if I'm in a 4G area?

i would assume no, but in theory....
the wimax chip does have a separate serial number so if you leave it provisioned for sprint then move just the cdma/evdo chip to verizon then yeah you'd still pick up 4G however i don't know if it could be done like that, firmware may treat the separate radios as all or nothing, would need someone far more technical than i to figure out how to do it

[mikldom]

stinks I don't see anything about the Va Beach/Norfolk, VA Market.. contains 1.2 mil people, quite a bit more than the Richmond,VA market, but we are all rednecks down here, and it is a huge military market... not the big business, fortune 500, and higher educational market the Richmond is... I am sure that has something to do with it!

[ericmcintire]

Good news.... Just found 4G in Hollywood with my verizon hack still enabled So you can have verizon towers AND 4G... in case anyone was wondering.

[lkillen]

I am 40 north of Atlanta and we have it.

Based on stock performance, you would never know they were making any penetration into the market.

[racemepls]

Originally Posted by ericmcintire

Good news.... Just found 4G in Hollywood with my verizon hack still enabled So you can have verizon towers AND 4G... in case anyone was wondering.

csre to share the hack?

[ericmcintire]

Originally Posted by racemepls

csre to share the hack?

Sure, sorry, thought it was pretty well known... All credit goes to "techknowfile" here's the link to his thread:

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=696073

Step 1: Obtain your MSL (aka Master Subsidy Lock / Password. SIX DIGIT NUMBER). Calling *2 and asking nicely is usually the easiest way, but if you would like a slightly more involved process READ THIS TUTORIAL by techwerkz -- Verified that it works, thanks again techwerkz

Step 2: Navigate to this tutorial on your EVO and download this PRL file:
*NEW**techknowfiles* 00001 epic PRL :: DOWNLOAD Use stock browser; if you get a white page with jargon on it then just save the page as 00001.prl OR you can download this zipped version --------> ::: *ZIPPED* 00001 epic PRL :: DOWNLOAD
Alternative *techknowfile* PRL (try 00001.prl first) 01337 :: 31337.

Step 3: Dial ##775#, a password prompt should appear. Enter your MSL into this box->hit OK->tap on the "Update PRL" button. Make sure "All Folders" and "Type: prl files" are selected. You should see the downloaded PRL (00001.prl) on the list; Select the PRL->Press Menu->Commit.
NOTE: If dialing ##775# doesn't do anything, try dialing ##775 or ##778 (then hit call).

If you get a 3g connection from this but it keeps dropping, try turning OFF data roaming. Thanks |Jason8|

How to undo the hack
If for whatever reason you wish to reverse this change, all you have to do is update the PRL through your EVO.

[jbearamus]

Originally Posted by mikldom

stinks I don't see anything about the Va Beach/Norfolk, VA Market.. contains 1.2 mil people, quite a bit more than the Richmond,VA market, but we are all rednecks down here, and it is a huge military market... not the big business, fortune 500, and higher educational market the Richmond is... I am sure that has something to do with it!

i'm not sure if sprint goes about targeting the military market but a lot of people at Hill Air Force Base in Utah use sprint so there's gotta be a reason, you'd think if they wanted to target that segment they'd get 4G running in military cities as quickly as possible

[TheBundo]

Originally Posted by ericmcintire

Sure, sorry, thought it was pretty well known... All credit goes to "techknowfile" here's the link to his thread:

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=696073

Step 1: Obtain your MSL (aka Master Subsidy Lock / Password. SIX DIGIT NUMBER). Calling *2 and asking nicely is usually the easiest way, but if you would like a slightly more involved process READ THIS TUTORIAL by techwerkz -- Verified that it works, thanks again techwerkz

Step 2: Navigate to this tutorial on your EVO and download this PRL file:
*NEW**techknowfiles* 00001 epic PRL :: DOWNLOAD Use stock browser; if you get a white page with jargon on it then just save the page as 00001.prl OR you can download this zipped version --------> ::: *ZIPPED* 00001 epic PRL :: DOWNLOAD
Alternative *techknowfile* PRL (try 00001.prl first) 01337 :: 31337.

Step 3: Dial ##775#, a password prompt should appear. Enter your MSL into this box->hit OK->tap on the "Update PRL" button. Make sure "All Folders" and "Type: prl files" are selected. You should see the downloaded PRL (00001.prl) on the list; Select the PRL->Press Menu->Commit.
NOTE: If dialing ##775# doesn't do anything, try dialing ##775 or ##778 (then hit call).

If you get a 3g connection from this but it keeps dropping, try turning OFF data roaming. Thanks |Jason8|

How to undo the hack
If for whatever reason you wish to reverse this change, all you have to do is update the PRL through your EVO.

I did this, and while it would be nice to have a simple hack like we had on WM, at least we do have a way to force Roaming. The only issue I have is that I don't see any indicator that I'm on a different network, like on WM, when roaming, a little icon like a christmas tree came up. How can we tell we are actually roaming?