MAJOR problem

kidmet · #1 (**permalink**) 11-05-2008, 10:59 AM

Ok, this will be long and hopefully detailed. I live on the fringe of EVDO coverage in Colorado. I have been missing numerous calls, texts, and vm alerts at my house. I have struggled with Sprint about this issue and am currently waiting for their solution. I was on the phone with advanced tech support for an hour last night (not sure what defines them as advanced as all they did was hard reset my phone and reprogram a new MSID).

Here is what I have experienced. Using my roommates Sprint cell phone (which is about 5 years old, but gets excellent reception in the house) I call my phone. My phone will not ring. On his cell phone, it will ring 3-4 times and go to VM. I repeat this process, but while the line is ringing on his cell phone, I dial VM or any other number with mine and PRESTO his call comes through and my phone rings.

My hypothesis? While my phone cuts in and out of EVDO and 1x, the radio isn't active enough to receive a call. When I try to make an outgoing call, it activates the radio and my phone rings.

I have tried the following:
Setting the phone with data OFF to:
Only Sprint
Automatic
Only Roam

Setting the phone with data ON to:
Only Sprint
Automatic
Only Roam

I cannot understand why my phone gets horrible reception, and my roommates old phone gets good reception. Cannot figure out the method of why I am not receiving calls. My GF said it just said it was busy all last night, sometimes it goes straight to VM, sometimes it will ring (on the caller's side) 3-4 times and the VM. HELP!!!

Sprint's advanced technical support is going to send me a new phone (which is on back order BTW), but I also had this problem with the Mogul which is why they ultimately sent me a TP.

Does anyone know of any settings to have the radio wake up quicker? Or something like this? Just my thoughts. Any ideas?

PRL is 60614

shadowmite · #2 (**permalink**) 11-05-2008, 11:03 AM

What PRL is your roommates phone on and what prl is yours on? More than likely his is older and includes some towers which have been removed from the newer sprint PRL's in order to save them money. If this is the case, and his is a EVDO prl you can try to put it on your phone via several method. If his is not a EVDO prl you may have to hack the PRL...

kidmet · #3 (**permalink**) 11-05-2008, 11:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shadowmite

What PRL is your roommates phone on and what prl is yours on? More than likely his is older and includes some towers which have been removed from the newer sprint PRL's in order to save them money.

Good thought. I didn't think of this. Can I change to an older PRL?

shadowmite · #4 (**permalink**) 11-05-2008, 11:11 AM

Sorry, updated my post a bit. Yes you can write older prl's, but if it's non evdo you don't want it... And it'll require figuring out what tower you want and creating a custom prl.

kidmet · #5 (**permalink**) 11-05-2008, 11:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shadowmite

Sorry, updated my post a bit. Yes you can write older prl's, but if it's non evdo you don't want it... And it'll require figuring out what tower you want and creating a custom prl.

My problem is, if it is a tower problem, why would my phone ring when I make a call, but not when it's just sitting there. It would still ping the same towers, wouldn't it?

On a side note, when I find out what type of phone it is (like I said, OLD), how will I know how to find the PRL?

CountryDevil · #6 (**permalink**) 11-05-2008, 11:24 AM

One thing to keep in mind here is the difference between EVDO and 1X.

Voice calls use the 1X signal to make both calls and for data in a 1X only area. EVDO is a seperate data channel. If you are in an EVDO coverage area, calls will come through on 1X while data will be on EVDO.

What does this mean you ask? If you are in a 1X only area and you have an active data session going transmitting data, the voice call will go to VM since the channel is busy.

I had this issue on my 700wx and it sucked sicne there was nothing I could do about it. I also live in a fringe area and had to switch my phone to Roam Only in order to get a good signal. While there, I could not use data because when roaming you are on 1X only no matter what.

On the Touch Pro in the phone settings there is an option called "DDTM Mode". Turning this option on will send all calls to VM during active data sessions. However, turning it off will stop any data sessions in order for the call to come through.

I would check your DDTM setting to see what it set to. If it is off, then you should not be having this issue. If it is off, then you got something else going on like the PRL.

I can tell you that with the TP and the DDTM option I do not have the above issue anymore. This DDTM option was not something that was available on any previous phone I have had.

Disclaimer: The above information is based on my own experience and information that I have gathered. The experience of other's may vary.