So I just signed up for Boost Mobile this weekend. Their new $50 plan was just too tempting not to at least give a try. This plan is nationwide with no local areas to worry about. On this new plan you receive Unlimited Calling, Unlimited TXT/PIX messages, Unlimited Mobile Web, and Unlimited DC. No taxes or other fees are charged to the $50 monthly charge either. I purchased the i335 at Wal-Mart on friday, so I'm giving it a try to see how well it works for me. My Verizon contract runs out in July and if this works out for me well I will likely cancel my Verizon post paid line. Anybody else trying out this new plan by Boost or already on Boost?
Not so much since the merger, but since the arrival of Dan Hesse. Previous management left iDEN for dead and just expected Nextel people to flock to Sprint. Hesse realizes that this was a serious mistake. If anything, Sprint should have pumped money into iDEN rather than practically killing it. Especially since everyone knew qchat technology was being developed. It made no sense for Sprint to drive away Nextel users like they did. They should have stabilized Boost/Nextel back in 2005. Hindsight is always 20/20 though.
i have considering trying out the boost thing... it's one heck of a deal. the only thing that keeps me away is the fact that it is on iden. i don't use a ton of data... but iden is painfully slow for me.
Sprint actually did continue to build new iDEN cell sites after the merger. I know for the first two years after the merger they were still going full force on beefing up iDEN here in So. Cal.
Most of those were probably planned well in advance of the merger...and while Sprint could have suspended the build-out, it was probably easier just to let those things move forward.
Dan, i read somewhere that Boost doesn't offered "call-waiting" on their service? can you confirm this?
That is correct. I don't know if it is all Boost offerings or just the $50 plan, but there is no call-waiting offered on the unlimited plan.
HMM? Not good.....thanks for that Anthro..... I just asked my co-worker and he does have call-waiting but he's on a different calling plan.
Correct, Boost doesn't offer call waiting on it's iDen service. So if you receive a call while on the phone that caller will roll to your voice mail. This does annoy me but considering all you get for $50 a month I can live with not having call waiting.
Thanks Dan... ok so i'm assuming this only applies to the $50 unlimited calling plan, like i previously mentioned, my co-worker has a different plan and does have "call waiting" feature.
Boost doesn't offer call waiting on the iDen side but they did for the CDMA offering they had in select markets. The market select Unlimited CDMA option has been discontinued though.
By Popular demand Boost will enable all phones Call waiting and 3 way calling at the end of this month.
I read on HoFo that by the 18th Boost Mobile will be enabling 3 way calling and call waiting for all Boost Unlimited (iDen) customers. Apparently call waiting and 3 way calling will not be added to their other plans at this time.
Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8350i/4.6.1.128 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/103) Well that`s good news.
Holler! Call Waiting Has Arrived. $50 Monthly Unlimited on iDEN just got better. Boost Mobile is making Call Waiting available for Monthly Unlimited customers. Between 2/12 – 2/17, Call Waiting will automatically be added to existing Monthly Unlimited customers’ service; customers will not be required to perform any additional steps to accept this additional feature. On 2/18, all new Monthly Unlimited activations will automatically include Call Waiting. Additionally, Call Waiting services will not incur any additional charges for Monthly Unlimited customers. Please note: at this time, Call Waiting will only be available for Monthly Unlimited customers. Boost Mobile® is currently working on making Call Waiting available for Pay As You Go and $1/Day Chat Plan customers and we will notify you as soon as this becomes available. Boost Mobile - Community
Well I'm returning my Boost Mobile phone to Wal-Mart tuesday and staying on Verizon. Boost has too many minor issues that add up to a pain. The plan is a great deal but the service and text messaging issues I just can't deal with.
Can you elaborate on the issues you were having? I have a friend that is really interested in the boost unlimited plan. I told him to go for it... but now I'm wondering if he should hold off.
Well let's start with my biggest pet peeve on Boost, the text messaging. Sometimes I receive messages just fine but other times there is a 4-5 hour delay before I get them. Also fairly often enough when I'd receive a message sometimes 5 hours later I'd get the same freaking message again. The battery life on the phone was awful as well, sometimes having to charge the phone twice a day! Another problem was with the Call Tones service which is Boost's versions of Ring Back tones. When I had them turned off you'd hear an odd stutter beep and almost like a beat boxing sound in the background. I had some people call me when the call tones was currently turned off and they were like what the heck is that. So I called it myself and noticed that issue, while minor it was annoying. Even my voicemail was a bit problematic. For instance it would sometimes cut part of my words off. So callers would hear half of my voice mail greeting, chopping some of my words off. Another thing is the service. During my brief time with Boost Mobile I had weak signal at my house (although it worked) and found an odd spot RIGHT in the middle of town where it went to no signal and every other carrier is fine there. Boost Mobile's plan is great but the minor issues I had with it and the text messaging problems just sent me over the edge to return this product. I will be returning the phone to Walmart on Tuesday or Wednesday. Honestly unless you really need Unlimited minutes and are on a budget this is the only possible way I'd recommend Boost. No wonder people are dumping Nextel like crazy, it stinks!
Well the text messaging thing is nothing new. iDEN doesn't do real SMS...everything is sent as MMS, so there are often lots of delays and issues. I would never use a Call Tones type of service, so I didn't have this problem when I was with Nextel. I also had the voicemail greeting issue, but I just re-recorded the greeting in a place where I had perfect signal and then it worked just fine. FWIW, I have had the same problem when attempting to record a VM greeting in a poor signal area on AT&T.
Had the friend try it. Everything was fine... except the text messaging. It took over 5 mins to receive SMS's from other people. Very slow to send. He decided that it wasn't worth the hassle. He went ahead and signed up with Sprint and got a blackberry.
Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8350i/4.6.1.128 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/103) Was your friend on iden or cdma?
I tried the Boost pay as you go plan a few months back to see how good the iDen network in town is. I had some odd coverage holes where even TMobile worked. I didn't try the walkie talkie though... I think I see why the Nextel users have moved on to other providers (TMo, AT&T, Alltel) Also, I wonder if they have added any exchanges in my city...looked like Nextel had only a few exchanges (850) 210, and 251... I did get a local exchange nearby but the number wasnt local to the entire calling area. Are they going to use CDMA exchanges... SMS wasn't too tad.. even instanteous though. I didnt try MMS since the phone I was using didnt have that ability... I see quite a few Boost CDMA users around town and they seem happy despite local only coverage areas...
