WEST U.S. -- Sprint coverage in Alaska...

[Alaskan99654]

Was preparing to purchase a GPS tracking device that uses Sprint, when I was told Sprint doesn't cover Alaska. Their coverage maps seem to bear that out, but... does anyone know any different? Is it true that Sprint isn't in Alaska?

[Eric47]

there has been a mixed debate on this. as far as we can tell they "may" work in some places, but not in all the cities that some other carriers like ATT and Verizon are working in, or so this is what it seems.

from my own personal research of talking to people moving to Alaska (mostly military) they almost all get ATT because they say its the only thing that works...

just curious, why get a GPS that uses a cellphone carrier? why not a garmin or something that uses actual satellites?

[TelcomJunkie]

just curious, why get a GPS that uses a cellphone carrier? why not a garmin or something that uses actual satellites?

He's using a GPS tracking device, one that needs to report back to a server. To provide that feature the GPS unit has to have a data device in it, some of these units come with Sprint modems in them and a lot of others use Verizon.

[Alaskan99654]

Actually I'm trying to find such an animal that will work up here. Had my heart set on a Sendum PT-200 until the vendor advised that it used Sprint, which they didn't think worked up here. They suggested I look at Enfora devices, to whom I have written to.

So, in the meantime I'm looking for a real time, celluar assisted GPS tracking unit. One that doesn't need to "see the sky" to work, and that I can track via the internet. Anyone have any suggestions?

[RadioFoneGuy]

I know the ATT has something along that lines in their own vehicles.

It has the GPS antenna then every 7-10 minutes sends out a data burst over the EDGE network.

Cellular One had the largest network but ATT bought them out back in November.

Look at the business solutions on ATT.com there may be something there.

[mframe]

The AT&T Tilt (Windows Smartphone) has built-in GPS.

[larry]

Sprint does have native service in Alaska but it is provided by another carrier through a partnership deal. Similar to what they have in Montana with Alltel.

[RadioFoneGuy]

ACS is the CDMA carrier up there. They claim EVDO but I read in another thread somewhere that in most areas they still have 1X.

On their website they poke fun at AT&T on one comparison between them they put

AT&T = Cellular One

There are claiming 1meg downloads in 10 seconds so that would tell me there REV A

You can roam with Sprint but I dont know how that would work with a business solution.

[Alaskan99654]

You guys have been very helpful. Glad I joined the list. The company is sending up a unit to check how well it will work. If interested, I'll post an update.
Thanks again,

Ron
Ron

[RadioFoneGuy]

Good luck, keep us updated.

[RJB]

You guys have been very helpful. Glad I joined the list. The company is sending up a unit to check how well it will work. If interested, I'll post an update.
Thanks again,

Ron
Ron

Yeah for sure I am curious about this as well.

[jayatmtu]

I'm up in Fairbanks now and am typing this message using my Sprint Data card! On my trips up here in previous years as a Sprint user I only had voice ability (no VM indicator, text messaging, or anything). I am happy to report to say that both my Sprint Blackberry and Sprint Data Card work quite well now, both in Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Deadhorse!

[CellGeek]

That is good new, but please don't beat the "Deadhorse"

I'm up in Fairbanks now and am typing this message using my Sprint Data card! On my trips up here in previous years as a Sprint user I only had voice ability (no VM indicator, text messaging, or anything). I am happy to report to say that both my Sprint Blackberry and Sprint Data Card work quite well now, both in Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Deadhorse!

[OCSue]

Our son is in Fairbanks. All of his calls are on roaming, which costs a fortune: incoming calls (including voicemail) are billed @ $0.94 and outgoing are the same price PER MINUTE. That's lousy. Certainly there must be a better way. Changing to another carrier may be his only option.

[jayatmtu]

Our son is in Fairbanks. All of his calls are on roaming, which costs a fortune: incoming calls (including voicemail) are billed @ $0.94 and outgoing are the same price PER MINUTE. That's lousy. Certainly there must be a better way. Changing to another carrier may be his only option.

Hmmm..he either must be on a really old plan that still charges for roaming or perhaps he is on some sort of prepaid plan? I know my Sprint plan includes voice and data roaming anywhere it will work in the 50 states.

[larry]

Our son is in Fairbanks. All of his calls are on roaming, which costs a fortune: incoming calls (including voicemail) are billed @ $0.94 and outgoing are the same price PER MINUTE. That's lousy. Certainly there must be a better way. Changing to another carrier may be his only option.

Change to a newer plan. He must be on an ancient plan from like 2003 or something! No more roaming charges on modern Sprint plans.

[OCSue]

Thanks. We are on an older plan. which up until now we thought was a great deal.

[OCSue]

However, last summer, when he was in Fairbanks, he used the phone and there were no roaming charges. This summer there are roaming charges. We have not changed our plan. Sounds like Sprint changed.

Anybody have any ideas about that?

[jayatmtu]

However, last summer, when he was in Fairbanks, he used the phone and there were no roaming charges. This summer there are roaming charges. We have not changed our plan. Sounds like Sprint changed.

Anybody have any ideas about that?

I don't know. I just got back from Fairbanks last night and I know my phone worked fine up there with no roaming charges.

[OCSue]

I just called Sprint Customer Service who told me that the reason we having roaming charges is because of the particular tower(s) used for the calls. That doesn't explain why there were no roaming charges for the two previous summers when the phone was used in Fairbanks. Sounds like a miracle for Sprint.

It is true that we have an old plan, so old that Sprint would just love to get us out of it because it is --or was -- such a good deal for us.

[larry]

The phone's PRL version could also play a factor in this. When was the last time it was updated and which brand and model is it? If you don't know how to check the PRL version it's usually ##786# and then 'ok'. This varies a little depending on phone but should work on most.

The phone could be hitting a different roaming partner this time than it did the previous two years which can cause roaming charges if it is not on Sprint's network. Sprint has a network partner in Fairbanks, Alaska which provides Sprint native service. However the phone could have landed on another carrier this time and thus the roaming charges.

To avoid having to pay roaming charges and not to have to worry about it I would recommend changing the plan to a new one.

[OCSue]

Turns out that our son had set his phone to neither accept nor make roaming calls. He called Sprint, got some sort of roaming put on the plan and a credit was issued. No idea why the phone didn't perform as it was supposed to, but the problem has been solved.