Problems with Boost Mobile Texting?

[71montecarloguy]

Yeah, I have a Boost Mobile phone with the 50.00 a month unlimited plan, but I have trouble sending and receiving text messages. I'm in an area with plentiful cell phone reception, but for whatever reason, my texting service is HORRIBLE. I can call without a problem, but the second I try to text, I get "Failed to Deliver", "No Service Available", "Failed to Receive" messages. I know in the area that I live in that a lot of people have trouble texting, but my case seems to be by far the worst. I don't think that it's a problem with the phone, however, I haven't purchased a new one to find out. I'm curious if anyone else has this problem with Boost in any other areas of the country?

I've found that I don't have this problem at my house, but on the college campus where I attend(about an hour and a half away from my house), my texting seems to disappear. Not only texting, but also Web capabilities. What's the point in having an unlimited plan if you can't use two of the services that you're paying for?

DOES ANYONE ELSE HAVE THIS PROBLEM?

[Kalimotxo]

Boost/Nextel have well known problems with texting and internet... mainly due to their network which will never be improved or expanded.

In your case, it sounds like a network capacity issue if you are having problems in one spot but not in the other. Buying a new phone or complaining to customer service probably wont help.

What part of VA are you in? Your best option might be to leave boost. There are a lot of other prepaid carriers out there with competitive pricing...

[71montecarloguy]

Yeah, after researching a little bit more I discovered that it is likely the iDEN network that is being overwhelmed in this area. I live in Blacksburg, Va(home of the VT Hokies!) and I have heard many other people complaining about their services especially with Nextel and Sprint. I assume that it is the network being overwhelmed.

What are other competitively priced prepaid companies with good phones and good plans that would likely work well in this area? I need something with unlimited everything, or at least unlimited talk/text. Web isn't such a big deal to me. And I would like something reasonably priced, such as the 50.00/month Boost plan.

Any ideas?

[KyleAndMelissa22]

Originally Posted by 71montecarloguy

Yeah, after researching a little bit more I discovered that it is likely the iDEN network that is being overwhelmed in this area. I live in Blacksburg, Va(home of the VT Hokies!) and I have heard many other people complaining about their services especially with Nextel and Sprint. I assume that it is the network being overwhelmed.

What are other competitively priced prepaid companies with good phones and good plans that would likely work well in this area? I need something with unlimited everything, or at least unlimited talk/text. Web isn't such a big deal to me. And I would like something reasonably priced, such as the 50.00/month Boost plan.

Any ideas?

Page Plus has a $39.95 unlimited talk / text & 20 MB of data, and it uses the Verizon network.
This sounds like a great deal, though I don't text or use data. I just talk, over 10,000 average minutes per month.
I have unlimited to 16 My Circle numbers on Alltel.

[71montecarloguy]

So you use Page Plus and would recommend it? And you think that being on the EVDO network will reduce my problems with call quality and texting issues?

I also noticed on the website that you can port your existing phone number onto the Page Plus service. Do you know if that's only other Page Plus numbers, or if that's applicable to Boost Mobile numbers as well?

Also, are there any other companies you would suggest looking at that are competitively priced, and have good service?

[KyleAndMelissa22]

Originally Posted by 71montecarloguy

So you use Page Plus and would recommend it? And you think that being on the EVDO network will reduce my problems with call quality and texting issues?

I also noticed on the website that you can port your existing phone number onto the Page Plus service. Do you know if that's only other Page Plus numbers, or if that's applicable to Boost Mobile numbers as well?

Also, are there any other companies you would suggest looking at that are competitively priced, and have good service?

Actually I don't use Page Plus, but for that's what I would recommend
to all my friends who only want prepaid..
(I'm on an Alltel postpaid plan for 3 years - and a divested customer, so I won't be going to Verizon.)

The only other service I would suggest for prepaid is Virgin Mobile.
They offer $50/month unlimited talk on the Sprint PCS CDMA Network, but it's $10 more for unlimited text.

[KyleAndMelissa22]

Originally Posted by 71montecarloguy

I also noticed on the website that you can port your existing phone number onto the Page Plus service.
Do you know if that's only other Page Plus numbers, or if that's applicable to Boost Mobile numbers as well?

Most cell numbers can be ported to other carriers.
So yes, most likely your Boost Mobile number can be transfered to Page Plus.

You initiate the number porting with the new carrier, don't cancel your other service, your porting number must be active.
When you port your number to a new carrier, the old service cancels automatically.

[KyleAndMelissa22]

Originally Posted by 71montecarloguy

You think that being on the EVDO network will reduce my problems with call quality and texting issues?

As was said earlier, Nextel's iDEN network (Boost) uses an older technology
and it does not work as well with text or data.

It's not the EVDO network that will make a difference in your calling or texting experience,
as EVDO is used only for data.

Verizon's 2G network (that voice and texts are carried on) has more spectrum, capacity, management, and overall coverage
than the "older" Nextel iDEN network, so you're more than likely to have better call quality for those reasons.

[71montecarloguy]

That's great. Thanks for all the great advice.

[Kalimotxo]

ahhh blacksburg! go hokies!

like KyleAndMelissa22 said, page plus is an excellent alternative to boost. again, it runs on the verizon network which is hands-down the best network in that region. let us know if you switch and what you think of the service.

[71montecarloguy]

Will do. I'm seriously thinking about switching after looking into Page Plus. I'll most likely wait another two weeks or so before switching, because I just paid my monthly bill for Boost.

The only concern that I have is that Page Plus won't have data service in the area that my home is in. After looking at their coverage map, I know that Blacksburg is well within their full service range. However where my parents' house is, I would fall in the voice-only area. It falls very very close to an area of full-service, but is just outside of it. And this is a concern for me, because even though I do talk on the cell a lot, the majority of communication I do is through texting, even for important subjects. Do the coverage maps generally express the full extent of their services or is that the "optimum" service areas? Being maybe half a mile outside of what their map considers full-service, would I still be able to get data service, only maybe suffer slower speeds, and occasional network loss, or would I likely not be able to get any data service?

[Kalimotxo]

Originally Posted by 71montecarloguy

Will do. I'm seriously thinking about switching after looking into Page Plus. I'll most likely wait another two weeks or so before switching, because I just paid my monthly bill for Boost.

The only concern that I have is that Page Plus won't have data service in the area that my home is in. After looking at their coverage map, I know that Blacksburg is well within their full service range. However where my parents' house is, I would fall in the voice-only area. It falls very very close to an area of full-service, but is just outside of it. And this is a concern for me, because even though I do talk on the cell a lot, the majority of communication I do is through texting, even for important subjects. Do the coverage maps generally express the full extent of their services or is that the "optimum" service areas? Being maybe half a mile outside of what their map considers full-service, would I still be able to get data service, only maybe suffer slower speeds, and occasional network loss, or would I likely not be able to get any data service?

It really depends on where the area in question is. Where, in general, is the other area? (city name, for example)

[KyleAndMelissa22]

Originally Posted by 71montecarloguy

Will do. I'm seriously thinking about switching after looking into Page Plus. I'll most likely wait another two weeks or so before switching, because I just paid my monthly bill for Boost.

The only concern that I have is that Page Plus won't have data service in the area that my home is in. After looking at their coverage map, I know that Blacksburg is well within their full service range. However where my parents' house is, I would fall in the voice-only area. It falls very very close to an area of full-service, but is just outside of it. And this is a concern for me, because even though I do talk on the cell a lot, the majority of communication I do is through texting, even for important subjects.

Service could vary in some areas, better or worse at different times.

The best way to find out is to try 'test driving' the Verizon network with the Page Plus phone.
See if it works well in all the areas you need it the most.

[71montecarloguy]

I agree, and I plan on taking the Page Plus for a test drive. The two main areas I live are Blacksburg, Va, and in the rural community surrounding Marion, Va.

[KyleAndMelissa22]

Originally Posted by 71montecarloguy

Do the coverage maps generally express the full extent of their services or is that the "optimum" service areas? Being maybe half a mile outside of what their map considers full-service, would I still be able to get data service, only maybe suffer slower speeds, and occasional network loss, or would I likely not be able to get any data service?

Verizon & Alltel never had street level coverage maps, they just usually put "service" or "no service" areas on their maps.
Coverage maps on Verizon never indicated signal strength,
so again the best way to find out is test the phone and network.
If it doesn't work as well as you want, I'm sure you could return the phone and get a refund.

Originally Posted by 71montecarloguy

I agree, and I plan on taking the Page Plus for a test drive. The two main areas I live are Blacksburg, Va, and in the rural community surrounding Marion, Va.

Well the Verizon network has been expanded far greater than the Nextel Network over the past 5 years since Sprint bought them,
so where ever you get service on Nextel / Boost, it should be as good or likely better on Verizon / Page Plus.

Let us know what happens.

[Kalimotxo]

If you know anyone with Alltel or Verizon, ask to try out their phone at your place in Marion. You should have the same coverage at your place alltel or verizon customer.

[KyleAndMelissa22]

Verizon did acquire the Alltel network along I-81 between Wytheville & Morristown, TN,
(includes Marion, VA) so it should be all covered by Verizon, or the Alltel switches that will become fully Verizon soon.

[71montecarloguy]

So I changed from Boost Mobile back to Virgin Mobile. I'm in the process of trying to get my Boost number ported to my Virgin Mobile service. I have to wait for Customer Service to contact me. But I activated my phone with a VM number, and I'm extremely happy with the quality of service here. All of my texting problems have disappeared, and my call quality has actually improved also.

I was looking at going to Page Plus, but I used to be a VM customer, and I knew the level of quality was pretty high for VM. Plus they tend to have flashier, fancier phones. =)

I'm now the owner of a beautiful Kyocera X-tc, which looks and works amazingly well. I'll be extremely pleased if it continues to operate as well as it has for the past two days.

[Kalimotxo]

Originally Posted by 71montecarloguy

So I changed from Boost Mobile back to Virgin Mobile. I'm in the process of trying to get my Boost number ported to my Virgin Mobile service. I have to wait for Customer Service to contact me. But I activated my phone with a VM number, and I'm extremely happy with the quality of service here. All of my texting problems have disappeared, and my call quality has actually improved also.

I was looking at going to Page Plus, but I used to be a VM customer, and I knew the level of quality was pretty high for VM. Plus they tend to have flashier, fancier phones. =)

I'm now the owner of a beautiful Kyocera X-tc, which looks and works amazingly well. I'll be extremely pleased if it continues to operate as well as it has for the past two days.

that's great to hear that everything worked out for you.

virgin mobile runs of the nTelos network down there. CDMA is miles ahead of iDen.

[71montecarloguy]

So I called VM Customer Service after not having heard from their customer support after sending them an email about porting my Boost number. After a 40 minute conversation with an extremely courteous customer service rep(who specialized in porting numbers), he initiated the porting process for me. I had no idea until talking to him that it could take up to 3 days. This is fine with me, although I'm iffy about being without a cell phone for 3 days!

What's the average wait time for a number to be ported?

I'll keep you guys posted on my experiences with VM Customer Service, and VM Cell Service. As of now, I'm impressed, especially with Customer Service. (PS, Pretty easy to get on the line with a live operator when calling Customer Service, instead of spending 20 minutes in a maze of voice-prompt computer madness like with Boost Mobile's Customer Service.)

[71montecarloguy]

Originally Posted by 71montecarloguy

What's the average wait time for a number to be ported?

Ok, nevermind. Not long after I posted that, I received an email saying they had successfully ported my phone number. Now I just have to wait for them to process the paper work to transfer my account balance to my new account. Joy. The rep said that it could be up to 3 days for that also. So let's hope they can get that done pretty quick too. lol

[KyleAndMelissa22]

Originally Posted by 71montecarloguy

So I called VM Customer Service after not having heard from their customer support after sending them an email about porting my Boost number. After a 40 minute conversation with an extremely courteous customer service rep(who specialized in porting numbers), he initiated the porting process for me. I had no idea until talking to him that it could take up to 3 days. This is fine with me, although I'm iffy about being without a cell phone for 3 days!

What's the average wait time for a number to be ported?

I'll keep you guys posted on my experiences with VM Customer Service, and VM Cell Service. As of now, I'm impressed, especially with Customer Service. (PS, Pretty easy to get on the line with a live operator when calling Customer Service, instead of spending 20 minutes in a maze of voice-prompt computer madness like with Boost Mobile's Customer Service.)

Well 2 years ago I transferred my home number from Sunrocket (now defunct) to Vonage.
The wait took a bit more than a week, and they issued me a temporary number until the porting was complete.

Ports should take anywhere between a few days and up to 2-3 weeks,
it all depends on (my guess) the type of number being ported,
and who owns the certain number from the allocated pool of numbers
(and if the number being ported has already been ported before to a different carrier,
in which it would have to go back to the original carrier before being ported to a 3rd carrier).

[wilfredtr]

Thanks for the suggestion of PagePlus. This is an unknown Gem of info!